British PM tops Ukrainians' trust ranking of world leaders

These are the findings of a survey entitled "Foreign Policy and Security. Opinions of Ukrainian Society – 2025," conducted at the request of the New Europe Center and presented by the center's director, Sergiy Solodkyy, Ukrinform reports.

Along with the British prime minister, the top three leaders trusted by Ukrainians in 2025 include Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics (73.5%) and French President Emmanuel Macron (73.4%).

Trust levels exceeding 70% were also recorded for Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (73%), Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda (72.8%), German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (72.7%), Finnish President Alexander Stubb (72.7%), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (72.4%), and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (71.8%).

According to the researchers, taking into account the margin of error (3.1%), the circle of public trust leaders also includes Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere (69.9%), Estonian President Alar Karis (69.0%), Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof (68.2%), and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (67.9%).

The largest year-on-year increase in trust was shown by the German chancellor, with trust rising by 35.8 percentage points. Strong growth was also recorded for the UK prime minister (up 24.1 points) and the French president (up 15 points).

By contrast, the steepest declines in trust were seen among leaders of countries that topped the New Europe ranking in previous years. In particular, trust in the Polish president fell by 20.6 points (to 44%), while trust in the U.S. president dropped by 20.2 points (to 24.4%).

At the very bottom of the ranking are the leaders of Hungary, China, Belarus, and Russia, the researchers said.

The survey was conducted by Info Sapiens LLC at the request of the New Europe Center from November 5 to 26, 2025. The sample included 1,000 respondents. The poll was carried out using the CATI method (computer-assisted telephone interviews) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. The sample is representative of Ukraine's population aged 16 and older by gender, age, region, and size of a settlement of residence prior to the full-scale invasion. The theoretical margin of error does not exceed 3.1% with a confidence level of 0.95. The survey was not conducted in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, other occupied areas, or territories without Ukrainian mobile coverage.

Photo: Claudia Greco/Pool