Countries increasingly see US as reliable since Ukraine war —poll

WASHINGTON — Growing majorities in nations friendly to the United States have come to view Washington as a reliable partner since the Ukraine war, an international survey said Wednesday.

An 18-nation survey by the Pew Research Center also showed that already negative views of Russia have sunk further since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.

In Sweden, which applied to join NATO after the Ukraine invasion, 84 percent said the United States was a reliable partner, a jump of 21 points from a year earlier.

Sharp rises were also seen in South Korea, where 83 percent said the United States was reliable, a boost of 25 points, and Canada, where the figure rose 16 points to 84 percent.

Other countries that saw rises in perceptions of US reliability include Australia, Belgium, Britain and Germany.

President Joe Biden has led international efforts to send billions of dollars in weapons and aid and to impose punishing sanctions on Russia after leader Vladimir Putin defied his warnings and attacked Ukraine.

The most favorable marks both for the United States and for Biden himself came from Poland, which has been on the frontlines of support for Ukraine.

Ninety-one percent of Poles saw the United States favorably and a mere two percent had positive views of historic foe Russia—whose favorability in Poland had inched up to 33 percent in 2019.

Outliers in the trends include Italy, where Prime Minister Mario Draghi's strong support for Ukraine has faced controversy, and Greece, where anti-US sentiment runs high despite its NATO membership.

Greece and Malaysia were the only nations surveyed where less than half of the public viewed the United States favorably, with the figure in Greece declining 15 points from 2021 to 48 percent.

The survey was conducted of 23,484 adults in 18 nations between February 14 and May 11. — Agence France-Presse