More Russians want better ties with the West today than in last 5 years, says survey

Moscow, April 1: Even as the relations between Russia and the West have plummeted in the recent years over various reasons, the number of Russians predicting better relations between Moscow and the West has reached the highest figures in five years, Levada Center, an independent pollster based in Moscow, revealed on Monday, April 1.

According to a report in The Moscow Times, public support for the Kremlin's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in the high 80s, as per the poll, even if it has affected relationships between the Kremlin and the West.

Almost two-third of the poll's respondents said the annexation "caused more good" to Russia while about one-fifth said it "caused more harm", the report added.

Fifty-four per cent of the poll respondents told Levada that Russia's relations with the West will be back to its pre-annexation days, seeing an eight per cent rise from what it was last year. Thirty-four per cent said they expected the "new Cold War" to continue.

Almost 47 per cent of the respondents on an average have been anticipating better ties with the West since 2014 while an average of 35 per cent predicts strained relationships during the same period.

The polling was conducted in 50 Russian regions between March 21 and 27 and covered 1,600 respondents.