Here are several key takeaways about Americans’ views of Russia:
- Half of U.S. adults see Russia as an enemy of the U.S., down from 61% in 2024. More Republicans see Russia as a competitor than as an enemy for the first time since before the Russia-Ukraine war started.
- While most Americans – including majorities of Democrats and Republicans – continue to express negative views of Russia and Putin, smaller shares of Republicans express very unfavorable opinions of Russia and no confidence at all in Putin than in 2024. Opinions among Democrats have not changed much.
Is Russia a competitor, partner or enemy of the U.S?
Half of Americans today label Russia as an enemy of the U.S., while 38% see Russia as a competitor and 9% see it as a partner. This represents an 11-point drop in views of Russia as an enemy since last year and a 20-point drop since March 2022, just weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Still, more Americans see Russia as an enemy now than they did before the invasion (50% vs. 41% in January 2022).
Partisanship
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to see Russia as an enemy of the U.S. (62% vs. 40%). Republicans are about as likely to see Russia as an enemy now as they were before the current conflict in Ukraine began. In January 2022, just before Russia invaded Ukraine, 39% of Republicans saw Russia as an enemy. This share increased to 69% in the early months of the war and has fallen fairly steadily since.
Republicans are also twice as likely as Democrats to see Russia as a partner of the U.S. (12% vs. 6%).
Favorability of Russia
Americans continue to have negative views of Russia. In the current survey, 13% see Russia very or somewhat favorably, while 85% see it very or somewhat unfavorably. These are generally similar to ratings in 2024.
Strongly negative views of Russia have been declining in recent years. Currently, 51% of Americans have a very unfavorable opinion of the country. As recently as March 2022, 69% had a very unfavorable view of Russia.
Partisanship
There are some differences in views of Russia by party. About four-in-ten Republicans (41%) hold a very unfavorable view of Russia, compared with 62% of Democrats. Inversely, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to have a favorable view of Russia (16% vs. 9%).
Confidence in Putin
Americans’ confidence in the Russian president remains low as well. About one-in-ten (12%) have at least some confidence in Putin to do the right thing regarding world affairs, compared with 84% who have little or no confidence in his leadership. In fact, a 57% majority of Americans have no confidence at all in Putin.
Partisanship and views over time
As with views of Russia, attitudes toward Putin have shifted slightly in recent years. In 2024, 67% of Americans had no confidence at all in Putin, including 75% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans. But in the current survey, 43% of Republicans have no confidence at all in Putin, an 18-point decline. Around seven-in-ten Democrats (72%) have no confidence at all in Putin, little changed from last year.
