Russians still have largely positive view of USA but trend is negative – poll

(Interfax – Moscow, September 17, 2013) Nearly half of all Russians (46 per cent) have a generally positive perception of the USA today, yet the share of those with a negative attitude to this country is rising (35 per cent against 30 in February), VTsIOM (Russian Public Opinion Research Centre) pollsters told Interfax on Tuesday (17 September).

Those with the most positive perception of the USA are young Russians (58 per cent have a generally good attitude to America) and those living in cities with the population of one million or more (64 per cent). The negative attitude is typical of respondents aged over 45 (37-38 per cent), and residents of medium and small towns and villages (37-40 per cent).

Perception of relations between Russia and the USA as not good prevails today; in particular, 31 per cent describe them as lukewarm, 19 per cent as tense, and 4 per cent as hostile. At the beginning of the year, the figures were 35, 17 and 4 per cent respectively.

Thirty-two per cent describe the relations as calm (31 per cent in February), 6 per cent as good ((up from) 5 per cent), and 4 per cent as friendly ((up from) 3 per cent), the VTsIOM poll carried out among 1,600 people in 42 regions of the Russian Federation on 24-25 August shows.

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