This article is part of a series on global leadership approval ratings. Read more on approval of the U.S. and China among NATO countries and on EU approval among its member states.
LONDON — Nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, neither country’s leadership earns high approval in its own backyard, and Ukraine’s slight edge has faded.
Across 25 countries in Eastern and Southern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, a median of 24% of adults approved of Ukraine’s leadership in 2025, down slightly from 27% in 2024. Approval of Russia’s leadership stood at 22%, mostly unchanged from the previous year.
Gallup has measured approval of Ukraine’s leadership throughout the region since 2024, while it has tracked views of Russia’s leadership since 2007. Russia’s current 22% average approval rating is marginally higher than where it stood after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At that time, regional approval of Russia had fallen to 19% from 31% in 2021. It has hovered near 20% ever since. Russia’s current approval rating is less than half of what it was at its highest point in 2008, when it stood at 45%.
Median approval of Ukraine’s leadership across the region has inched downward since 2024, from 27% to 24%. This mostly reflects sharp declines in Kazakhstan (down 16 percentage points), Romania and Georgia (both down 10 points) since 2024, while approval has been steadier elsewhere.
Clear Regional Divisions in Allegiances to Kyiv, Moscow
The region shows significant divides in relative approval of Kyiv and Moscow. Ten countries favor Kyiv (meaning their approval of Ukraine’s leadership exceeds their approval of Russia’s by at least 10 percentage points), eight are more aligned with Moscow, and seven show no clear preference — a picture similar to 2024.
The Baltic states show the strongest support for Ukraine over Russia, led by Lithuania (66-point gap), Latvia (52 points) and Estonia (51 points). Central Asia leans heavily toward Russia, with Tajikistan showing a 58-point gap and Kyrgyzstan 50 points. Four countries where Russia leads show gaps in approval exceeding 20 points. By contrast, all 10 countries favoring Kyiv do so. Countries with no clear preference, including Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Greece and Hungary, cluster in Southern and Eastern Europe.
These regional allegiances reflect a mixture of broader historical ties and economic interests. In the Baltics, Ukraine’s struggle is often seen as their own, and they view Russia’s military actions as a potential threat to their sovereignty.
On the other hand, countries in Central Asia share close economic, cultural and media ties with Russia. Many Central Asian migrants work in Russia and send remittances home, boosting their national economies.
Countries in Southern and Eastern Europe, where there is no clear lead in approval, have historical ties and economic dependencies with both the European Union and Russia. The economic pain of decoupling from Russian energy continues to weigh on the region. At the same time, many of these countries are deeply integrated within the EU, and EU leadership approval is higher than that of both Russia and Ukraine.
Significant Political Divides in Key EU Countries Hungary and Slovakia
Although their populations offer low approval of both Russia’s and Ukraine’s leadership, EU member states Slovakia and Hungary have been the bloc’s most vocal opponents of military support for Kyiv.
Led by Prime Ministers Robert Fico and Viktor Orban, respectively, these nations are the most aligned with the Kremlin’s positions, international networks and economic interests. Because many EU decisions regarding sanctions and aid require unanimity, Slovakia and Hungary have the power to delay or dilute actions aimed at bolstering Ukraine.
In both countries, views of Ukraine and Russia are sharply divided along partisan lines. Supporters of Fico’s Direction Party are nearly three times as likely to approve of Moscow (38%) as Kyiv (14%), while supporters of the opposition Progressive Slovakia Party are much more approving of Kyiv (45%) than Moscow (3%).
The Russia-Ukraine divide runs deeper in Hungary, where a majority of Orban’s Fidesz Party supporters approve of Russia’s leadership (55%), compared with only 3% who approve of Ukraine’s. By contrast, 41% of those aligned with the opposition TISZA Party approve of Kyiv, while 13% approve of Moscow.
These partisan gaps help explain why EU support for Ukraine remains contested in some member states. Hungary and Slovakia have delayed EU sanctions on Russia and questioned military aid to Ukraine. Supporters of the parties currently in power (Direction, Fidesz) are largely aligned with this more favorable stance toward Russia, giving their leaders more domestic backing to resist EU consensus. But elections could shift these positions quickly. Hungary votes in April 2026, with polls forecasting a close race between Fidesz and TISZA.
Bottom Line
As the war in Ukraine continues, Kyiv and Moscow earn similar approval ratings from the wider region, with a slight slip in approval of Kyiv over the past year. However, relative approval of the two countries’ leadership varies considerably by geography, with the Baltics leaning heavily toward Kyiv, Central Asia favoring Moscow, and several Southern and Eastern European nations not clearly aligned with either.
Many efforts have been made to bring the war to an end in recent months, with U.S. President Donald Trump recently hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida to discuss options. This concluded with Trump acknowledging that some “thorny issues” remain unresolved. However, if the war does end in the near future, regional approval ratings could factor into the regional political landscape Ukraine faces as it rebuilds, as well as which countries fall into Kyiv’s or Moscow’s orbit in the years to come.
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For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.
