Most Ukrainians support joining NATO, but trust in alliance is lower

Most Ukrainians support Ukraine joining NATO, but do not fully trust the alliance.

The survey by the New Europe Center, a Kyiv-based independent think tank, showed that 68.9% of Ukrainians support Ukraine's membership of NATO. Notably, however, only 54.7% of respondents said they trust the alliance, while 41.5% said they do not.

Public trust in NATO in Ukraine largely depends on the practical assistance provided by the alliance. A positive view is also shaped by the perception of NATO as a powerful security grouping, a force that is taken seriously.

Ukrainians who trust NATO were asked what most influences that trust. The survey identified three most common answers:

support to Ukraine (18.5%)

defence for Ukraine (13.3%)

security guarantees (11.8%)

Those who do not trust NATO said this is mainly because of their assessment of its conduct during the war. The alliance is seen as doing too little, acting too slowly and lacking decisiveness.

Answers to the open-ended question on the reasons for distrust are:

"not enough help to Ukraine" (16.5%)

"more talking than doing" (13.5%)

"lack of action" (11.0%)

"they can't defend themselves" (9.1%)

"the war is still ongoing" (6.1%)

Some Ukrainians also admitted that they "simply do not trust" NATO, without giving any reason, almost 6%.

The opinion poll was commissioned by the New Europe Center and conducted by Info Sapiens research agency between 7 and 20 March 2026, before the latest statements by US President Donald Trump about a possible US withdrawal from NATO. The poll sample comprised 1,000 respondents.

At the beginning of January, polling showed that trust in the US and NATO had fallen sharply compared with the end of 2024, while the majority of Ukrainians surveyed still trusted the European Union.

A March poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) showed that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians still had a positive view of the US in general, but attitudes towards the US administration were predominantly negative.