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Russians feel restraint towards U.S. - poll

MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - Russians have a feeling of restraint towards the U.S. On one hand, most Russian citizens do not harbor hostility towards the power on the other side of Atlantic. On the other hand, they are cautious about U.S. foreign policy in Russia.

This is one of the results of a poll conducted by Gallup International, Russia's independent center for public opinion and market research. The center surveyed 1,000 Russians from the country's 10 major cities. The stats came in on the eve of the Russian-American summit in Moscow.

Numbers show that 32% of Russians polled have a positive attitude towards the U.S., while 19% hold the opposite view. A total of 46% said that they are neutral toward the U.S. and only 3% were unable to answer.

Almost half (46%) of Russians regard the struggle against international terrorism as the most urgent issue in relations with the U.S.

A total of 11% give top priority in Moscow-Washington relations to the situation in the Middle East and nearly as many (10%) point to the problems caused by NATO's eastward expansion.

Nearly 10% of Russians consider the human rights' record in Russia as one of the main problems in bilateral ties. Slightly fewer respondents (9%) believe that the main problem in Russian-American relations is the reduction of strategic nuclear arms. More than 5% of those interviewed mentioned the situation in Afghanistan and 8% were at a loss for an answer.

Respondents were also asked to state their view on American culture. Of those polled, 10% said they do not like it. The majority (47%) favor some features of American culture, and 16% said that U.S. culture is too hard to stomach. Roughly the same number doubt the existence of American culture. About 10% found it difficult to answer this question.

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