Trust in Zelensky Rises to 57% After US Pressure, Poll Finds

Ukrainians’ trust in President Volodymyr Zelensky rose to 57% in the days after a US-Russia diesel deal was announced and Washington’s subsequent pressure on Kyiv, according to a poll released by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The figure compares two groups surveyed at different points during the same polling period: 43% of respondents interviewed on Oct. 8-9 said they trusted Zelensky, compared with 57% interviewed on Oct. 10-16.

KIIS said the change likely reflects a “rally-around-the-flag” effect, in which people become more supportive of their leader when they perceive the country to be under outside pressure.

The institute cautioned that some of the difference could be methodological. It said trust ratings have sometimes been slightly lower at the beginning of fieldwork, although earlier gaps were smaller.

KIIS added that the current change suggests the rally effect may be at play, while noting that it is too early to know how strong or long-lasting it will be.

Overall trust remains at 54%

Across the full survey, 54% of respondents said they trusted Zelensky, while 41% said they did not. The figures were unchanged from KIIS’s late-August and early-September polling, the institute said.

Of those who expressed trust, 22% said they trusted Zelensky “completely” and 32% “rather trusted” him. Among those who did not trust him, 24% said they did not trust him at all and 17% said they “rather did not trust” him.

Other Topics of Interest

Zelensky Raises Issues of Missile Defense, Warnings, Starlink with Rubio

Zelensky said a call with Rubio covered diplomatic efforts to end the war, as Ukraine seeks better protection against Russian ballistic missile attacks.

The nationwide survey was conducted by telephone from Oct. 8-16 among 1,031 adults living in Ukrainian-controlled territory. The Oct. 8-9 comparison group included 274 respondents, while 757 were interviewed from Oct. 10-16. KIIS said the maximum sampling error for the overall results was 4 percentage points, and 7.7 points for the earlier subgroup. The institute also noted that wartime conditions may create additional systematic error.

KIIS links shift to pressure on Ukraine

KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetskyi said people who may criticize Zelensky over domestic issues can still support his position in dealings with other countries and his efforts to secure military assistance and defend Ukraine’s interests abroad.

He said Ukrainians can see criticism of Zelensky from Western public figures as broader pressure on Ukraine, particularly when Kyiv is accused of being “uncompromising” while Russia’s demands include Ukrainian territory and limits on the country’s sovereignty.

KIIS said 73% of respondents opposed the idea that Ukraine’s government should be more accommodating in negotiations with Russia, while 20% supported a more accommodating approach.

Hrushetskyi said the institute could not yet predict how long the shift in trust would last. He noted that a similar effect in 2025 was smaller and shorter than in 2022, and said Kyiv’s Western allies’ response could influence future public sentiment.

Diesel deal adds to tensions with Washington

US President Donald Trump announced a diesel arrangement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 9. The US Treasury Department subsequently authorized transactions involving Russian diesel through April 7, 2027.

Trump has since pressured Kyiv to stop striking Russian refineries, a sector Ukraine has targeted with relative success in 2026 in an effort to cripple Moscow’s war chest.

The diesel deal drew criticism in Kyiv, where officials and lawmakers argued that easing restrictions on Russian fuel could provide Moscow with revenue as it continues its war against Ukraine. Zelensky proposed a reciprocal energy arrangement under which Ukraine would stop striking Russian oil infrastructure if Russia halted attacks on Ukraine’s energy system.

As Russia continued attacking Ukraine’s energy grid, Zelensky on Tuesday walked back the offer, proposing a 30-day energy truce that halts attacks on Russian refineries in exchange for replenishing Kyiv’s stockpiles of US Patriot air defense missiles.

The poll’s comparison period followed the deal and the subsequent pressure on Ukraine. KIIS described the change in trust as a likely reaction to that pressure, while emphasizing that the polling trend does not establish how long the effect will continue.