Russians view U.S. more favourably now: Poll
For the first time in more than four years, Russia’s leading polling agency has found the number of Russians who have positive views of the United States is greater than those who have negative views.
The results, published Thursday by the independent Levada Centre for Public Opinion, show a considerable increase in the number of Russians who said they generally felt good about the U.S., while the number who felt bad dropped from 70% to 40%.
At 42%, the number of Russians who view the U.S. positively is the highest it has been since January 2014 — one month before Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
The increase in positive views comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Helsinki with President Donald Trump on July 16. The meeting was viewed negatively by many in the U.S. with 50% saying in a recent Post-ABC poll that they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the meeting.
However, Russians had a more positive view, according to Levada’s data. While the majority, 53%, said the meeting hadn’t changed relations between the U.S. and Russia, 29% said it had improved bilateral relations.
The data also showed a sharp increase in positive views of the European Union among Russians, with 42% saying they generally felt good about the E.U. vs. 38% who said they felt bad. These were the most positive views of Europe since early 2014.