Most Russians No Longer View United States As Their Top Enemy: Poll

A new public opinion poll shows that most Russians no longer consider the United States to be their number one global enemy, which suggests that Trump administration’s stance on the Ukraine conflict has served to soften public opinion in Russia.

“The U.S. dropped from first to fourth on this list for the first time in 20 years of measurements,” the independent pollster, Levada Center, said in a newly published survey.

The top three most hostile countries, according to the Russian respondents, were named as Germany (55%), the United Kingdom (49%) and Ukraine (43%).

This interestingly coincides with Trump’s return to the White House and repeat pledges to deescalate and ultiamtely end the war in Ukraine. He has also thus far refrained from calls to slap new sanctions on Moscow in order to give peace negotiations a greater chance.

At the same time, both the UK and Germany have been urging a ‘coalition of the willing’ to boost defense spending and present a united front against Russia. Berlin and London have become more and more hawkish.

Among past Russian public opinion polls, past downturns in US favorability followed the 2008 Russo-Georgian war and the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and resulting Washington sanctions and pressure.

The Levada Center survey shows Russians view there closest allies to be Belarus (80%), China (64%), Kazakhstan (36%), India (32%), and North Korea (30%).

Interestingly, Iran’s support fell significantly, despite Tehran now being a main drone supplier for Russia’s military. Only 11% of Russians surveyed named Iran as a top ally, which is down from 22% in 2024.

The  Levada Center noted of this particular survey that it was conducted in person among over 1,600 Russian adults from May 22–28.

Another general observation is that there is probably growing war weariness among the Russian public. Well over three years after the Ukraine war kicked off with intensity, there are grim estimates that hundreds of thousands of young Russian men may have been killed. Certainly war weariness has also take hold of Western populations for some time now. It appears common Russians are increasingly blaming the leading European countries for recent escalations.