The survey by FOM-Ukraina said 54.9 percent of the country was against joining NATO compared to 22.3 percent who thought it was a good idea.

Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency said the tepid response to NATO appeared to be fallout over NATO's refusal last month to admit Ukraine and Georgia to the Membership Action Plan. RIA-Novosti said the vote came after Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that having Ukraine in NATO might require re-targeting nuclear missiles at its neighbor.

In addition, there are concerns about the close ethnic ties that the Crimea region of Ukraine has with Russia.

The FOM-Ukraina poll surveyed 2,000 Ukrainians April 16-25. The margin for error was 2.2 percent.