Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, many countries have positive views of Russia. According to a survey conducted by Alliance of Democraciesa non-profit organization dedicated to advancing democracy, there is a clear divide between liberal, mainly Western, and rest of the world democracies when it comes to opinions about Moscow.
While in Europe, 55 percent of respondents were in favor of cutting economic ties with Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, in Asia the majority were against it, and opinions were divided in Latin America.
The annual Democracy Perceptions Index, conducted after the invasion of Ukraine, included 52 countries in Asia, Latin America, the United States and Europe. The results showed that 20 countries advocated maintaining economic relations with Moscow, while 31 countries advocated severing these same relations.
Among the 20 countries with a positive opinion of Russia are Greece, Kenya, Turkey, China, Israel, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, South Africa, Vietnam, Algeria, the Philippines, Hungary, Mexico, Thailand, Morocco, Malaysia, Peru and Pakistan. and Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, out of 31 countries that prefer to sever ties with Russia, 20 are European. Hungary and Greece were the only two European countries that opposed severing ties with Moscow.
According to the survey, Portugal is the third country with a negative view of Russia, at 79 percent, after Poland (87 percent) and Ukraine itself (80 percent). After Portugal and Italy (65 percent), the United Kingdom (65 percent), Sweden (77 percent), the United States (62 percent), and Germany (62 percent). Even in Hungary — whose leader Viktor Orban is an ally of Putin — 32 percent of them expressed a negative view of Russia. In Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro expressed his “full support” for Russia in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, 36% of the population expressed a negative opinion of Moscow.
In contrast, countries with a positive view of Russia include India (36 percent), Indonesia (14 percent), Saudi Arabia (11 percent), Algeria (29 percent), Morocco (four percent), and Egypt (seven percent).
Ukraine support
Despite differing opinions on Russia, the survey showed greater unity on aid to Ukraine. The majority of people around the world (46%) believe the US, EU and NATO have done little to help Ukraine during the Russian invasion, while 43% believe the aid sent to Ukraine was adequate. Only 11 percent consider aid to Kyiv to be excessive.
Countries arguing that the US, EU, and NATO did little to help Ukraine during the Russian invasion are Ukraine itself (66 percent) and many Latin American countries (62 percent).
On the other hand, China takes the opposite view, with only 16 percent of the population saying that the United States, the European Union and NATO have done little to help Ukraine. In Europe, the countries that agree with this statement least are Germany (32 percent) and France (34 percent), arguing, for the most part, that the assistance provided to Ukraine was adequate.
