MOSCOW, February 27 (RIA Novosti) – Only four percent of Russians describe relations between Moscow and Kiev as “friendly,” an independent pollster said Wednesday.
The Levada Center reported that 40 percent of respondents to its poll described relations with Ukraine in positive terms: four percent as “friendly,” ten percent as “neighborly,” and 26 percent as “normal.”
However, 54 percent used negative terms: 31 percent said relations were “chilly,” 21 percent “tense” and two percent “hostile.” Six percent did not answer.
While 60 percent of Russians said that their opinion of Ukraine was “largely positive” and 22 percent describing their view of the ex-Soviet neighbor as “largely negative.”
Only 10 percent of respondents used stronger terms, with six percent describing their opinion of Ukraine as “very positive” and four percent saying it was “very negative.” The rest gave no response.
The survey of 1,603 people from 130 cities and towns in 45 regions was conducted from January 24-27. The margin of error was no more than 3.4 percent.
