Less than half of Americans surveyed described the country as an “adversary”
The attitude of Americans towards Russia has become more positive, according to a poll commissioned by a European think tank following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election.
The change was indicated by a survey conducted in November-December 2024 for the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), which reported the findings on Wednesday. The study examined the attitudes of respondents to Russia in 24 countries as part of an ongoing series of global polls.
In the US, 11% of those polled called the country “an ally,” while another 20% said it was a “necessary partner.” On the opposite side, 17% labeled Russia “a rival” and 38% “an adversary.” In a previous survey carried out from December 2022 to January 2023, 0% of American respondents selected the “ally” option and 55% saw the nation as an adversary.
American attitudes to the EU remained largely unchanged between the two studies. However, in the nine EU members surveyed, the percentage of people who consider the US an ally dropped from 31% to 22%.
The research also indicated an increasingly positive attitude among Russians towards China, and among Chinese people towards Russia. Respondents in both nations showed a greater tendency to view each other as allies.
When asked about the likelihood of a Ukrainian victory over Russia in the ongoing armed conflict, over a third of respondents in Ukraine (34%) expressed optimism, the highest percentage among the nations surveyed. Just 13% of Americans said they considered such an outcome the most likely, and even lower confidence was recorded in other places, including 0% in Russia.
People in the EU stood out during the survey in their “mourning” of Trump’s victory and feeling “anxiety” about it, the ECFR said. In other parts of the world, there is hope that his presidency would lead to reduced violence in the Middle East and Ukraine.
”Europeans will struggle to find internal unity or global power in leading an outright resistance to the new administration” in Washington, the pan-European think tank warned.
