Polling on U.S. views of Russia
If Russian views of the U.S. haven't improved much, the latest poll from Rasmussen seems to show a little positive movement from the American side:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 31% of voters now trust Russia to honor its new agreement with the United States to reduce its nuclear weapons stockpile. Forty-three percent (43%) still donâ??t trust the Russians to honor the agreement which President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev finalized on Friday...Bleak as they are, the number who trust the Russians to honor the agreement is up nine-points from July when the agreement was first announced. Thirty-two percent (32%) of voters also think the United States should help Russia fight its terrorism problem, following the homicide bomber attacks Monday in Moscowâ??s subway system that killed 37 people and injured another 65. But 41% say America should not get involved in Russiaâ??s anti-terrorism effort. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are undecided.
Fifteen percent (15%) now view Russia as an ally of the United States. Ten percent (10%) say Russia is an enemy. Seventy-one percent (71%) see the former Soviet Union as somewhere in between the two.
Still, only 17% think Americaâ??s relationship with Russia will be better a year from now. Eighteen percent (18%) expect that relationship to be worse, while 57% predict it will be about the same.
