After a marathon meeting lasting 15 hours in Minsk, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, confirmed that a ceasefire agreement had been reached to end fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
Heavy weapons will be withdrawn from the front lines from midnight on Saturday with the ceasefire coming into force on February 15th.
On Monday, President Obama said that his administration was considering supplying the Ukrainian government with weapons, coinciding with a spike in the fighting. However, research from YouGov suggests the American public is divided when it comes to arms shipments.
37 percent of those surveyed were against the US providing weapons to the Ukrainian military while 32 percent would support any such move. Politically, the picture is very different. Over half of Republicans, 53 percent, support military aid to Ukraine compared to just 27 percent of Democrats.
Most Americans support holding diplomatic relations with Russia as well as imposing greater economic sanctions. If the ceasefire fails to hold and the situation deteriorates further, over 60 percent of the American public would be opposed to US troops being sent to Ukraine. YouGov’s overall findings on measures to end the conflict were similar in the United Kingdom.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
