After Trump came to power, U.S.-Russia relations gradually broke the ice. A recent investigation report from the Levada Center showed that the United States is no longer Russia's main enemy country, and since Trump took office twice, Russians' favorability towards the United States has almost doubled.
The Levada Center, which published this survey, is the most authoritative and influential polling agency in Russia. Founded in 1987, it was formerly a research institution of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Although its investigation results are not completely flawless, it has the highest credibility in Russia.
Investigation report shows that the top three national enemies in the eyes of Russians are Germany, Britain and Ukraine. The fourth place is the United States.
This is mainly because in recent days, the Russian media have been portraying Trump as a pragmatic U.S. head of state who is willing to talk to Russia.
This can also show that the Russians' favorability towards the United States is periodic. I still rememberIn 2008, during the Russian-Germany War, the United States strongly condemned Russia and provided a lot of assistance to Georgia. At that time, in the minds of Russians, their favorability towards the United States plummeted. The same was true when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
On the other hand, this report also ranks the list of the most favorable countries in the minds of Russians, among which Belarus ranks first, and 80% of Russians believe that Russia is actually the closest friends and allies. This is easy to understand. Belarus and Russia have similar ethnic cultures and languages. Lukashenko is a die-hard ally of Putin and is an existence of "recognition level". It is no surprise that he will be the first.
China follows closely, with about 64% of the Russians voting for China. Whether it is political, economic, cultural, or historical narratives, China has become a key force in "non-Western narratives". For Russians, "reliable, powerful, and not nagging" is a common impression of China.
Kazakhstan ranks third. There are actual interactions between Russia and Kazakhstan and positive people's cognition, which is a typical example of "acquaintances".
India and North Korea ranked fourth and fifth respectively. India can understand that the Russians still have a good impression of India. Besides, Russia and India have a strong foundation in traditional cooperation, and in public opinion, they are familiar friends who are "not close or distant but never hate".
North Korea has been praised by the Russian media after the great victory in the Kursk Battle, and the Russians' favorability for it has skyrocketed. Among the "combat nation"'s mutual appreciation for "another combat nation".
Compared with the previous list, the Russians' favorability for Iran has declined significantly this time, from 22% in 2024 to 11%.
In the context of Russia and Iran joining together to fight against the West, the sudden cooling of Russia and Iran is very intriguing. In my opinion, this matter has a direct relationship with the attitude of the top Russian leaders towards Iran.
War and sanctions make Russia more inclined to countries with dual economic and cultural intersections: such as Belarus, a die-hard ally, China, which has a common economy, trade and culture, and Kazakhstan, which is also a former Soviet country. These countries are more intimate in the hearts of the Russian people.
Iran seems more like a teammate with a "vague image and slightly dangerous" image, and is far less psychologically close to neighboring countries.
Another reason is that the Russian government and the Iranian government are indeed getting closer to the Syrian war and anti-Western camp, but ordinary Russians may not necessarily buy it. Especially in daily life, Russians do not have much cultural exchanges or emotional connections towards Iran, and their emotional foundation is not solid, so their favorability towards Iran fluctuates greatly.
In fact, the ranking of Russian favorability is more about emotional projection, rather than careful trade-offs in a rational state. Media reports, senior attitudes, historical memories, etc. will leave traces in the polls. And the turbulence of public opinion is often the earliest trend signal. By understanding Levada's data, we can step ahead and understand what Russian society really thinks.
