Jason Lange

WASHINGTON (Reuters). Reuters/Ipsos poll results show that 55% of Americans are in favor of sending additional U.S. forces to Washington’s NATO allies, in Central and Eastern Europe, in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The President Joe Biden deployed additional soldiers to Europe, adding thousands to his support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies who are concerned about Moscow’s attack on its small neighbor.

Biden stated that U.S. troops would not be sent to Ukraine, though Washington has been supplying Kyiv’s with weapons. He has also aggressively sanctioned Russia’s economy and placed a ban on U.S. oil imports from Russia.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll on Monday and Tuesday found that 61% and 54% respectively of Democrats back additional troop deployments into NATO countries.

The Pentagon released a second tranche of U.S. military equipment and troops bound for NATO allies on Tuesday. This included 10 F-18 fighter jets as well as more than 200 people heading to Eastern Europe including Lithuania.

More than 100,000 U.S. soldiers are now stationed in Europe. This is a significant increase from around 80,000 troops before Russia invaded Ukraine.

A poll showed that 61% Americans believe U.S. sanctions against Russia are worthwhile despite higher fuel prices, even though gasoline prices have risen since the start of the war.

This was nearly unchanged in a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted a month prior, although gasoline prices have risen by almost 20% to $4.24 per gallon since then, according to AAA.

According to the poll, 47% approve of Biden’s handling of the Ukraine crisis. That is higher than his 39% economic rating.

Biden’s popularity overall has fallen to its lowest point in his presidency over the past weeks. It is a sign that Biden’s Democratic party may lose its thin majorities at the U.S. Congress in November 8 midterm elections.

The most recent Reuters/Ipsos survey was done online in English throughout the United States and gathered responses from 1,005 adults. The credibility interval is a measurement of precision and accuracy of approximately 4 percentage points.