The bilateral relations between the two countries reached a historic minimum.

MOSCOW, December 4, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning how Russians asses the current relations between the U.S.A and Russia.

The attitudes of Russians towards the U.S.A. have worsened over the recent one year and a half. Whereas in February, 2013 the index made up 25 points (55% perceived America positively), today the index became negative (-44 points; 66% of Russians perceive the U.S.A. negatively) and broke the record of September, 2013 (-43 points). Those who perceive the United States most negatively are supporters of LDPR (75%) and residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg (74%). Russians perceived the U.S. most positively more than one-quarter of a century ago (index - 79 points in 1991).

Today Russians assess the Russian-American relations extremely negatively: the corresponding index** dropped to -82 points (from -12 points in August 2013). This is for the first time when the assessments of the relations between the two countries are so low. Every second respondent (49%) notes tensions between the two countries (from 19% in August 2013); every fifth mentions the chill in relations (21%) and hostility (20%). Only few respondents believe that the relations between Russia and the U.S. are still friendly (5%), good-neighboring (1%) and normal (1%).

*Index of attitudes towards US shows how today Russians assess the United States. The index is based on the question “What is your general attitudes towards the United States?” The index is calculated as a difference between positive answers (“very good”, “mainly good”) and negative answers (“mainly bad”, “very bad”).  The Index is measured in points and can vary between -100 and 100. The higher the value of index is, the better Russians perceive the United States.

**Russia-US relations index shows how Russians assess the current relations between Russia and the United States. The index is based on the question “How would you assess the current relations between Russia and the United States?” The index is calculated as a difference between the sum of positive answers (“as normal and calm”, “as good and good-neighboring”, “as friendly”) and negative answers (“as cool”, “as tense”, “as hostile”). The index is measured in points and can vary between -100 and 100. The higher the value of index is, the better Russians assess the bilateral relations.

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on November 22-23, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3,5%.

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!