Who Do Russians Consider Allies and Enemies?

FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE Russians see Belarus as their friendliest ally and consider the United States the most hostile, according to a recent poll of Russian residents conducted by the Levada Center, Russia's most respected independent pollster. Here are the 10 countries Russian residents said they consider allies in 2013: 46% BELARUS 16% 14% 31% KAZAKHSTAN GERMANY UKRAINE 9% BULGARIA 10% CUBA 8% ARMENIA 12% AZERBAIJAN 7% INDIA 20% CHINA Here's how Russian attitudes toward these 10 countries have changed since 2005: Belarus 46% 46% Belarus 31% Kazakhstan Germany 23% Kazakhstan 20% Ukraiņe 17% India 16% 20% China China 12% Bulgaria 11% 16% Ukraine Armenia 9% 14% Germany --- Azerbaijan 5% Cuba 8% 12% Armenia 10% Cuba 9% Bulgaria 8% Azerbaijan 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 Here are the 10 countries Russian residents said they consider hostile in 2013: 2013 2011 2012 16% 21% ESTONIA LATVIA UNITED KINGDOM 9% 17% LITHUANIA 8% POLAND 11% 38% UNITED STATES 33% GEORGIA UKRAINE 7% IRAQ 10% AFGHANISTAN Here's how Russian attitudes toward these 10 countries have changed since 2005: Latvia 46% Lithuania 42% Georgia 38% Estonia 32% 38% United States United States 23% 33% Georgia Afghanistan 12% Iraq 10% 21% Latvia 17% Lithuqnia 16% Estonia Poland 4% United Kingdom 3% 11% Ukraine 10% Afghanistan 9% United Kingdom 8% Poland 7% Iraq 2005 2006 2010 Curiously, between 2005 and 2013, Ukraine is the only country that appeared on 2007 2009 2011 2012 2013 both the list of allies and the list of unfriendly, hostile countries. By Lisa Mahapatra INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES Source: Levada Center Poll, conducted May 23-27, 2013, released June 16, 2013