Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Economist that he saw signs of wavering amongst Ukraine’s Western partners in an interview on September 10, but the people of Europe still want to support Ukraine in its fight with Russia, according to a recent poll.

Zelenskiy, a former television actor with an acute sense of his audience, has detected a change of mood among some of his partners, The Economist wrote. “I have this intuition, reading, hearing and seeing their eyes [when they say] ‘we’ll be always with you,’” Zelenskiy said. “But I see that he or she is not here, not with us.”

The slow progress of the counteroffensive and looming elections in the US and elsewhere have led to visible signs of Ukraine fatigue among the Western partners, but for the moment funding and weapons supplies remain in place for all this year and well into next year.

While the politicians may be starting to waiver, the population of Europe remains committed. Most Europeans support further financial aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, according to an EU survey released this week.

In particular, 65% of those surveyed support ongoing financial aid and 71% of respondents back the sanctions regime. Another 57% believe that the EU should support the purchase and supply of military equipment for Ukraine and the training of the Ukrainian military.

Most Europeans believe that the war in Ukraine requires the EU to ensure its energy and economic security (85%) and expand military co-operation between member states (75%).

About two-thirds of Europeans (67%) believe that the EU should support Ukraine's path to European integration, and 65% are behind Ukraine's integration into the single European market.

Most Europeans (86%) approve of the EU continuing to provide humanitarian support to people affected by war, and three-quarters (77%) agree to accept people fleeing war into the EU.

Only 15% of Europeans are categorically against financial aid to Ukraine. However, 71% of Europeans show full solidarity with Ukraine.

A separate survey found that Ukrainians trust large private Western companies and banks, and without corruption, to carry out the post-war reconstruction of their country effectively. Just over a quarter (28%) of respondents trust these companies, while 19% trust the international financial organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank.  

"There is distrust in society towards domestic companies for post-war economic and infrastructural reconstruction. In July 2023, only 17.5% of respondents agreed that state-owned Ukrainian companies and banks can effectively and without corruption carry out post-war reconstruction of the country. The level of trust in Ukrainian for private companies and banks is even lower – 8%," the study says.

Least popular, only 3% of respondents believe that large non-Western companies and banks (for example, from Asian countries) will be able to restore Ukraine efficiently and without corruption.

In a worrying development for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, most Ukrainians consider the president to be directly responsible for corruption in government. According to a recent poll published by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, 78% of surveyed Ukrainians believe that the president bears direct responsibility for corruption in the government and regional administrations. Only 18% of respondents disagreed with this statement.