Seventy-one percent of Russians want to improve economic, political and cultural ties with the West, a report released by independent pollster the Levada Center has revealed.
The figure has soared since July 2015, when just 50 percent of Russians wanted to improve relations.
Just over half of respondents claimed that Eastern Europe had nothing to fear from Russia, with 52 percent saying that Moscow posed no threat to NATO members.
At the same time, 57 percent of respondents said that Russia had reason to fear NATO, with 31 percent seeing no danger in the military alliance. Twelve percent of respondents were undecided.
On decisive issues such as the Syrian conflict, some 70 percent said that Russia played an important role in resolving international problems.
The West’s view of Russia was only important for 44 percent of Russians, with 51 percent claiming that they did not care about Western attitudes.
The poll was conducted on Nov. 18 to 21 among 1,600 in 28 Russian regions.
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