Russians believe that it is Russian diplomacy that prevented military intervention in Syria.
MOSCOW, October 24, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning how many Russians know about the Russia-US resolution on Syria, as well as whether this agreement prevents military intervention in Syria.
Today 68% are interested to know about the situation in Syria including 15% of those who follow the news regularly, and 53% - from time to time; 31% report that they have no interest in situation in Syria.
The share of those Russians who know about US-Russia arrangements concerning Syria is 58% (16% are well aware, 42% know in general about that). Those who are most informed are Muscovites and St.Petersburgians (78%). Forty-one percent of Russians say that they learned about that during the interview; they are mainly residents of small cities (50%).
Thirty-six percent of those who are informed about arrangements know that the decision referred to the elimination of chemical weapons. Seventeen percent of Russians are aware that a peaceful settlement was reached. The share of those who are informed that the initiator of the agreement was Russia is 77%.
According to most of respondents, the position of Russia consisted in trying to achieve a peaceful settlement of conflict (24%). In 17% of cases Russians say that Russia acted against military operation in Syria; 15% report that the country holds the leading position in settling the conflict. Twenty-five percent of those who are informed about the resolution report that they do not know what the Russia`s position is.
According to the majority of Russians who are aware of the situation, this agreement will help prevent military action in Syria (63%); they are basically elderly respondents (71%). Twenty-three percent of Russians oppose them stating that military action is possible; they are mainly 18-24-year-old Russians (33%).
The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted On October 12-13, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Are you personally interested to know what happens in Syria now? (closed-question, one answer) | |||
| 2012 | August 2013 | October 2013 |
I follow the news about Syria regularly | 8 | 20 | 15 |
From time to time | 37 | 49 | 53 |
I am not interested in Syria | 52 | 30 | 31 |
Hard to tell | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Russia and US have recently reached a peaceful agreement on Syria and have accepted the UN resolution on Syria. Do you personally know/have you heard/do you hear for the first time about that? (closed-question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 | 100 - 500 | менее 100 | Rural area |
I am well aware of that | 16 | 24 | 8 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 15 |
I hear something, but I do not know details | 42 | 54 | 42 | 49 | 45 | 33 | 42 |
I have learned for the first time | 41 | 21 | 46 | 36 | 37 | 50 | 43 |
Hard to tell | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Can you describe these agreements in two or three words? What is special about that? (open-ended question, % of those who have heard about the UN resolution on Syria) | |
Peaceful settlement of conflict, willingness to prevent military actions | 17 |
Elimination of chemical weapons | 36 |
Non-intervention of US in Syria | 6 |
Peacekeeping will be sent to control the situation | 2 |
Disarmament of Syria | 3 |
Nin-interference in domestic affairs of Syria | 2 |
Other | 1 |
Hard to tell | 38 |
What body/country was the initiator of the agreement on Syria? (open-ended question, % of those who have heard about the UN resolution on Syria) | |
Russia | 77 |
UN | 7 |
USA | 3 |
NATO | 2 |
Syria | 2 |
Hard to tell | 10 |
What is the position of Russia in the negotiations? Can you describe it in two or three words? (open-ended question, % of those who have heard about the UN resolution on Syria) | |
Chief, leading one | 15 |
Peaceful settlement of conflict, peacekeeping mission | 24 |
Russia supported Syria | 5 |
Russia supported the elimination of chemical weapons | 8 |
Russia was against military actions in Syria; against intervention in domestic affairs of Syria | 17 |
I do not know about the position of Russia | 25 |
Other | 0 |
Hard to tell | 11 |
In your opinion, will the agreements between Russia and US prevent international attack on Syria, or not? (closed-question, one answer, % of those who have heard about the UN resolution on Syria) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and over |
Rather yes; there will not be military operation in Syria | 63 | 47 | 59 | 60 | 68 | 71 |
Rather no; these agreements pose no obstacle for military intervention | 23 | 33 | 26 | 27 | 19 | 17 |
Hard to tell | 14 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
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!