New CNN Poll: 48% approve how Obama is handling Ukraine crisis

WASHINGTON — When it comes to dealing with Russias’s invasion of Ukraine, a new CNN/ORC poll released Monday finds Americans heavily support — 59% — only ecomomic sanctions against Russia compared to 46% for direct economic aid to Ukraine, which Congress will start to consider this week.

President Barack Obama so far has more people approving of his handling the Ukraine crisis than disapproving, according to the survey.

The numbers on Obama handling Ukraine/Russia:

*48% approve

*43% disapprove

*9% unsure

Here’s a closer look at how those polled feel about certain actions against Russia. Nearly six in 10 approve of economic sanctions.

“All demographic groups support economic sanctions except the youngest Americans. More than six in 10 older Americans support sanctions, but 55% of Americans under the age of 35 oppose them,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “It’s possible that generation gap is due to older Americans’ memories of the Soviet Union as the chief threat to the U.S.; many younger Americans may have no memory at all of the Cold War and most of those under the age of 25 were not even born when the Soviet Union collapsed.”