Only 5% of Russians believe in friendly relations with US – poll

Only 5% of Russians polled in a recent survey believe US-Russian relations are friendly, a pollster said on Friday.

According to the All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), 14% of respondents consider relations very good, 9% said good, and 37% described them as "normal."

Some 26% of the Russians surveyed said ties were "cool," 13% said they were "strained," 2% described them as hostile, and 8% were not sure one way or the other.

About 63% of respondents were unable to identify the most burning issues in bilateral relations. Some 8% cited nuclear weapons and 6% pointed to economic issues and the global crisis.

Some 52% of respondents could not say what global issues would be solved through Russian-US cooperation.

The poll of 1,600 randomly selected Russians in 140 towns was conducted on June 27-28, 2009, with a statistical margin of error within 3.4%.