MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) - Negative attitudes in Russia towards the United States in March reached the level of summer 1999, which could be explained then by developments in Yugoslavia.
A survey conducted by the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion Studies shows that a third of Russians (30%) describe present relations between Moscow and Washington as "cool," while 18% consider them to be "tense," and 4% call them "hostile."
An estimated 29% of respondents think Russia and the United States now have "normal and neutral" relations, while 42% expressed this opinion in September 2001.
Only 13% of Russians call relations between the two countries "friendly," "good," or "neighborly," as compared with 20% in September 2001.
Sociologists explain this sharp growth of anti-U.S. sentiments by the fact that the United States is dictating its rules to the world, and by concerns about the U.S. military presence in Central Asia, as well as in Georgia. Scandals at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games also affected Russian views.
The sociologists also believe the "trade war" that erupted in March over Russian steel imports to the United States and U.S. chicken imports to Russia accounts for a cooling in Russian attitudes, as well.
Sociologists say that Russians have difficulty in deciding whether the two countries are allies or adversaries. A quarter of the respondents to the survey (25%) hesitated to answer, with 38% calling the U.S. "adversaries," and 37% "allies."
A question about the development of the two countries' relations, which was asked in January, saw half of Russians (53%) saying relations "remained unchanged," with a fifth (21%) saying the two countries were "growing closer."
The results of the March survey show that Russians have drastically changed their attitudes, with a third of them (34%) saying relations between Russia and the United States are deteriorating, and only 6% describing them as becoming closer.
Almost half of Russians (48%) expressed confidence that the U.S. needs Russia's support in the anti-terror campaign, with more than a third (37%) expressing the opposite opinion.
The survey was conducted on March 22-26, among 1600 Russians in 83 settlements of the country's 33 regions.