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Most Americans Believe Putin Is Stalling Peace and Support More Weapons and Sanctions if Talks Fail

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Vlad Litnarovych
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Most Americans Believe Putin Is Stalling Peace and Support More Weapons and Sanctions if Talks Fail
Demonstrators hold the world’s largest Ukrainian flag at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, on March 8, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

A clear majority of Americans believe Russian leader Vladimir Putin is deliberately stalling peace negotiations involving the United States, and supports sending more weapons to Ukraine and imposing additional sanctions on Russia if Moscow continues to resist a genuine peace deal, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released May 19.

According to the survey, 66% of respondents believe Putin is “playing games and stalling” negotiations, while just 34% think he “genuinely wants to end the war.”

In comparison, 62% of Americans said they believe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is committed to ending the war.

Support for continued US assistance to Ukraine remains strong if Russia refuses to negotiate.

62% of respondents agreed that the Trump administration should “continue to provide weaponry to Ukraine and impose further economic sanctions on Russia.” Only 38% opposed further aid or punitive measures.

The poll, conducted online from May 14–15 among 1,903 registered voters, predates President Donald Trump’s two-hour phone call with Putin on May 19. During that conversation, Putin reportedly declined to agree to a ceasefire, instead proposing what he called a “memorandum regarding a potential future peace treaty” with Ukraine.

In follow-up remarks, Trump added that he trusts Putin and believes the Russian leader wants peace.

Despite those assurances, many Americans remain skeptical of Trump’s approach.

According to the poll, 59% said they believe Trump is “not tough enough” on Putin, while 31% said his posture was “about right.” Just 10% thought Trump was “too tough.”

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll has a margin of error of ±2.2 percentage points.

Earlier, a poll by British research firm YouGov revealed a growing number of people across the US and Western Europe believe a third world war is likely to erupt within the next 5 to 10 years—and most expect it to be far deadlier than the last, with most respondents believing that it might start because of Russian actions.

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