Russians no longer see US as chief enemy, poll finds. See what nation tops list

Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald on Jun 9, 2025

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The perception of the United States within Russia has undergone something of a sea change over the past year, suggesting that resentments dating to the Cold War may be beginning to thaw, according to new polling.

The share of Russians who view the U.S. as a hostile nation has dropped dramatically since 2024, and now — for the first time in decades — more Russians label other countries as adversarial, a new survey from the Levada Center found.

Further, feelings toward the U.S. have improved substantially, according to the poll, which comes as President Donald Trump attempts to broker a peace deal to end the Ukraine-Russia war.

With that said, not all of the findings were so rosy. Most Russians continue to express pessimism about relations between the West and Russia, which they think will always be founded on mistrust.

Here is a breakdown of the key findings from the survey, which sampled 1,613 Russian adults May 22-28.

Enemies and allies

In the survey, less than half of respondents, 40%, named the U.S. as hostile toward Russia. This is down 36 points from 76% in May 2024, marking a massive shift in opinion in just one year.

And, for the first time in 20 years, more Russians rated other countries as adversarial. Topping the list was Germany (55%), followed by Great Britain (49%) and Ukraine (43%). All three saw double-digit increases from 2024.

Placing fourth behind the U.S. was Poland (37%), followed by France (32%), and Lithuania and Latvia (28%).

In contrast, 80% of respondents named Belarus as a close ally of Russia, putting it in first place when it came to friendly countries. After this came China (64%), Kazakhstan (36%), India (32%) and North Korea (30%).

The poll from the Levada Center — described by The New York Times as the sole independent pollster inside Russia — has a margin of error between 1.5 and 3.4 percentage points.

Shifting attitudes

Attitudes toward the U.S. have also turned more positive over the past year as Trump continues making overtures to Russia and Ukraine in hopes of ending the war. Though, so far, these talks have not yielded success — and both sides have ramped up their attacks.

In the poll, 37% of respondents said they had a good attitude toward the U.S., which is up from just 16% in 2024. In contrast, 47% said they had a bad attitude toward America, which is down from 72% last year.

Attitudes were more positive among respondents under age 24 (49%), Moscow residents (42%) and respondents who have visited countries in Europe (49%). Meanwhile, 52% of 40-54-year-olds held a negative attitude, as did 49% of those who have not visited European nations.

By comparison, attitudes toward the European Union are less warm, with 64% expressing a negative view and 21% expressing a positive view. These figures have changed little over time.

And when it comes to Ukraine — which Russia invaded in 2022— attitudes have worsened slightly. A large majority, 74%, expressed a bad attitude, up from 68% in February.

The conflict in Ukraine has left nearly 1.4 million Russian and Ukrainian troops dead or wounded, according to a June study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank.

Views of the future

Despite a growth in positive opinion toward the U.S., Russia’s relationship with the western world continues to be viewed cynically.

Sixty-six percent of respondents said they believe relations with the West will always be based on mistrust — the highest share on record. Just 25% said they believe interactions between Russia and the West can be friendly.

On this question, there were some notable differences in opinion based on demographics.

Sizable shares of certain groups indicated relations can be friendly. These include women (27%), people under 24 (32%) and respondents who trust YouTube as a source of information (37%).

Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of men and older respondents, 69%, said mistrust will continue to cloud relations.

Still, 80% of respondents acknowledged the need for Russia to strengthen relations with the West — marking the highest share on record and an increase from 52% in 2024. Just 14% of respondents said there was no need to improve relations.

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(Google Translate was used to translate the results of the Levada Center poll.)

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