Standing with Ukraine? An Experimental Test of the Main Arguments for and against Supporting Ukraine

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is an attack on democracy, human-rights, and the international order, and has caused democratic countries to support the war torn country. However, voters face a trade-off and may not agree with continued support for Ukraine. The war has caused instability and Russia has responded by cutting off gas to Europe, resulting in rising prices. We test how arguments for and against continued backing of Ukraine affect voters' support using survey experiments conducted in Germany and Denmark. We find that voters are no more likely to support pressuring Ukraine to negotiate when they are presented with arguments proposing that ending the war decreases prices. Furthermore, voters become more supportive of Ukraine when we include arguments related to human-rights, democracy, and the respect for territorial boundaries. All in all, our results suggest that voters are ready to support democratic allies against external aggressors even if they face a trade-off