Russian Views of U.S. Improve

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Russians like the U.S. government more than they have since before Boris Yeltsin ceded the presidency to Vladimir Putin, indicating Barack Obamaâ??s â??resetâ? is paying off, a poll published today shows.

Fifty-nine percent of Russians have a â??goodâ? or â??very goodâ? opinion of the U.S., up from 46 percent a year ago and 22 percent in September 2008, the month after Russia waged a five- day war with U.S. ally Georgia, the Moscow-based All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion said in a statement.

The percentage of Russians who have a â??badâ? or â??very badâ? opinion of the U.S. fell to 27, less than half the 65 percent recorded in September 2008 and the lowest since 1998, according to VTsIOM, as the Moscow-based center is also called. The poll of 1,600 people was conducted May 1-2, before President Dmitry Medvedevâ??s state visit to Californiaâ??s Silicon Valley and Washington, and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

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