Does Obama really believe Putin is not our enemy or is he refusing to admit Romney was right?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a tumultuous winter in which Russia has been at odds with the West over Crimea, more than two-thirds of Americans say Russia is either unfriendly (44%) or an enemy (24%) to the U.S. This is a departure from sentiments in recent years and a record high since 1999.
The March 22-23 survey was conducted after Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Crimea had joined the Russian Federation. From 1999 to the middle of last year, Americans viewed Russia more positively than negatively. As recently as June 2013, 52% of Americans said Russia was an ally or friendly.
Americans’ negative views are a fairly recent development after an increasingly tense period in U.S.-Russian relations, starting when Putin granted temporary asylum to Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who went public with his insider knowledge of the agency’s surveillance secrets. Putin also intervened in the Syrian chemical weapons conflict last fall, ultimately brokering a peaceful solution, and chastised President Barack Obama in an op-ed in the New York Times. […]
At the same time, 64% of Americans believe Ukraine is an ally (17%) or friendly (47%) nation to the U.S. This is the first time Gallup has asked this particular question about Ukraine, and Americans’ support is softer than what Gallup sees for other nations that are often considered allies. For example, 86% of Americans in the same poll say France is an ally or a friendly nation, and 92% perceive Great Britain this way.