Biden given ANOTHER dire approval rating on his Putin response: Majority say President hasn't been 'tough enough' and 85% fear US will be drawn into a conflict with Russia

 A majority of American voters do not think President Joe Biden is being tough enough on Russia over Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, a new poll suggests on Monday.

Just 36 percent of respondents to a new Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey said the president's response to Putin has been 'about right.'

Fifty-six percent said Biden is 'not tough enough' and six percent believe he is being 'too tough' on the Eastern European nuclear power.

A majority of Americans also appear concerned that the bloody and brutal conflict will spill over into the United States. Three-quarters are at least somewhat concerned Russia could target the US with nuclear weapons.

Eighty-five percent of voters surveyed said they were extremely, very or somewhat concerned that the country would be drawn into a war with Russia. A plurality, 47 percent, cited the highest levels of concern. 

The number of people who aren't worried about a fight with Moscow at all is significantly lower at 15 percent. 

The survey is released a day after Biden returned from a trip to Europe where he took part in an extraordinary summit of NATO leaders and a European Council meeting to discuss Putin's attack.

A majority of people don't think Biden is being tough enough on Russia, a new poll shows

The survey was released just two days after Biden said Putin 'cannot remain in power' during an emotionally-charged moment while he was giving a speech in Poland

Moscow's invasion began a little over a month ago on February 24. Since then Russian troops have been bombarding Ukrainian cities and accused of war crimes in their ruthless slaughter of civilians.  

The poll was taken March 17 to 21, beginning the same day Biden labeled Putin a 'war criminal.' 

On Saturday, during a speech in Warsaw, he alarmed foreign policy experts when declaring the Russian autocrat 'cannot remain in power' after an emotional day of meeting Ukrainian refugees and aid workers helping them. 

As Biden was wrapping up his visit in Poland, a NATO country, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of launching several rockets at the western city of Lviv from Crimea, the territory Moscow had annexed from Kyiv in 2014.

Lviv is less than 250 miles from Warsaw, and roughly 37 miles from the Polish border.

Amid concerns that Russia would soon use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, NATO Deputy-General Secretary Mircea Geoana told the Associated Press that the defensive alliance 'is ready to respond proportionately.'

But Monday's survey shows an apparently growing concern that such weapons could be used in the US as well.

Monday's survey also shows elevated concerns of a direct conflict between US and Russia, despite the Biden administration ruling out the possibility of a unilateral fight

A majority of Americans also at least somewhat fear the possibility of Russia using its vast nuclear arsenal against the United States -- more believe it will be used against Ukraine

An Ukrainian serviceman walks in the village of Mala Rogan, east of Kharkiv, after the Ukrainian troops retook the village on March 28

Forty-five percent of poll respondents said they were extremely or very concerned that Russia will use nuclear weapons against the US. Thirty percent are 'somewhat concerned and just a quarter do not see it as a likely threat.

As for turning nuclear power against Ukraine, a 61-percent majority believe it's a high possibility, followed by 26 percent claiming to be 'somewhat concerned' about it.

Despite heightened worries of a potential conflict, voters also appear to be unified in support of a tougher response to Russia. 

When asked what the 'bigger priority' for the Biden administration should be, 55 percent of people said it should be 'sanctioning Russia as effectively as possible, even if it damages the US economy.'

Fewer voters, 42, percent, backed 'limiting damage to the U.S. economy, even if it means sanctions on Russia are less effective.' 

Russia's invasion has already plunged the global energy supply chain into chaos, sending prices at the pump skyrocketing in the US and Europe. 

Halyna Falko looks at the destruction caused after a Russian attack inside her house near Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on Monday, March 28

Despite expressing concern about soaring gas prices, a majority of Americans said they would be willing to suffer the financial strain of tougher sanctions on Russia

It's adding financial strain to an already-precarious position for many Americans' pocketbooks. Consumer prices rose 7.9 percent in February from the year before, according to the Labor Department's most recent data.

The price of gasoline shot up 38 percent alone.

A whopping 88 percent of voters who responded to Monday's poll said they are at least somewhat concerned about the impact of rising gas prices. Sixty-eight percent said they were extremely or very concerned.

However, it's also an area where Biden is catching a break -- 55 percent of voters think the increased prices at the pump are 'more because of factors outside Biden's control. Just 44 percent blamed the president's policies.   

It comes after an NBC News survey published on Sunday saw respondents asked 'how much confidence' they have in Biden's ability to navigate Russia's brutal attack. 

The largest share -- 44 percent -- said they have 'very little' faith in the president, while 27 percent have 'just some' confidence in him, for a combined 71 percent.

Only 28 percent of Americans polled said they share 'a great deal' or 'quite a bit' of support for Biden's handling of Ukraine -- a far cry from the confidence the president has sought to project through decades of foreign policy experience in the Senate.

It comes after an NBC News poll on Sunday showed fewer Americans having faith in Biden to navigate the crisis in Eastern Europe than those who believe in him

A plurality of respondents to NBC's poll also believe the US will be at war with Russia withint he next year

And a majority of people seem to believe Biden's actions so far have put the country on a path toward direct conflict with Russia, despite the US's stated preferred policy of de-escalation through diplomacy.  

Sixteen percent of Americans said they believe their nation is already at war with Russia based on Biden and his officials' handling of the crisis. A whopping 44 percent said the devastating conflict 'will be within the next year.'

Just 34 percent were confident the US would not be embroiled in a war with Moscow.  

Biden himself has repeatedly insisted that American troops will not unilaterally confront Russia's, even rejecting Ukraine's request for a no-fly zone over its territory amid concerns of a larger war breaking out.  

But 74 percent of survey respondents suggest they do not take the president at his word on US boots in Ukraine.

More than eight in 10 also said they fear such a conflict would result in nuclear warfare, and 83 percent are concerned that Russia's invasion of Ukraine will increase the cost of goods and services here at home, including gasoline.