Newsweek: Most Russians no longer consider the United States to be Russia's enemy
The majority of Russians no longer consider the United States an enemy of their country, writes Newsweek, citing survey data. It is noted that the attitude of Russians towards the United States continues to improve against the background of the Trump administration's foreign policy initiatives.
Brendan Cole
According to the survey data, the share of Russians who consider the United States to be the most hostile country towards Russia has almost halved over the past year.
According to a survey conducted by the independent Levada Center*, 40% of respondents agreed that the United States is Russia's main enemy, compared with 76% in 2024. <...>
Why is this important?
Russia presents its conflict with Ukraine as a proxy war with the West, regularly making threats against Kiev's allies.
However, a Levada Center poll* shows that the majority of Russians do not share antipathy towards the United States, which could set the stage for a thaw in relations between the two countries during Donald Trump's presidential term.
What you need to know
In a survey conducted by the Levada Center* from May 22 to 28, 1,613 Russian adults spoke about their attitudes towards various countries, with a margin of error of no more than 3.4%.
The share of respondents who called the United States the most hostile country towards Russia was 40%, compared with 76% in 2024.
As a result, the United States dropped from first to fourth place in the list of hostile countries for the first time in two decades, behind Germany (55%), Great Britain (49%) and Ukraine (43%), which has been in conflict since 2022.
The Levada Center* noted that attitudes towards the United States continue to improve amid the Trump administration's peacekeeping efforts.
According to the survey, more than a third of respondents (37%) have a positive attitude towards the United States, which is 21 percentage points more than in September 2024. Less than half (47%) have a negative attitude towards the United States, which is 25 percentage points less over the same time period.
According to the survey, people under the age of 24 (49%), Muscovites (42%) and those who have visited other European countries have the most positive attitude towards the United States.
Respondents aged 40-54 (52%) and those who have never been to European countries (49%) have the most negative attitude towards the United States.
At the same time, respondents named Belarus (80%), China (64%), Kazakhstan (36%), India (32%) and North Korea (30%) as Russia's "closest friends and allies".
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What do they say about it
Levada Center*: "The most hostile [respondents named] Germany, Great Britain, Ukraine, the USA and Poland; the USA dropped from the first place to the fourth in this list for the first time in 20 years of measurements." <...>
Comments from Newsweek readers
Killiano
Russians and the rest of the world have problems not with Americans, but with the deep state and those who control it.
HHvictor
"...for the first time in two decades, we dropped from first to fourth place in the list of hostile countries, losing to Germany (55%)..."The problem is not with the German people, but with their leadership —or lack of leadership — and lack of democracy."…
It was not Russia that tried to ban the German AFD party. It was only under pressure from the United States that the AfD remained in the election race. By the way, they took the second place... It was not Russia that TWICE overturned the election result of the Romanian presidential candidate after it was recognized that he had won the race fairly... Any European candidate who does not openly declare his loyalty to the EU and NATO will receive the cancellation of his party or the election results. That's what counts as democracy in Europe.
* An organization that performs the functions of a foreign agent.
