Sixty percent of Russian respondents are unfamiliar with Donald Trump's background and policies, the state-run VTsIOM pollster reported Monday.
Of those who knew about the Republican Party presidential candidate, 34 percent of respondents said they would expect an improvement in U.S.-Russian relations if Trump were to become president, and 12 percent said they would expect relations to deteriorate, VTsIOM reported.
More than a third of Russians (36 percent) expect no change in bilateral relations between Russia and the United States if Trump were to become president.
Of those who knew about Trump, 53 percent believe that victory by Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party candidate, would lead to a worsening of relations between Russia and the United States, according to the poll.
The former U.S. secretary of state was identified by 26 percent of respondents as the former first lady of the United States. Forty-one percent of those polled knew nothing about Clinton and her activities.
“This eccentric and sharp politician billionaire is more appealing [to Russians] than Hillary Clinton, who is remembered, above all, for a tough anti-Russian policy while U.S. secretary of state,” VTsIOM CEO Valery Fedorov said.
More than half of respondents (59 percent) believe that the U.S. presidential election outcome is important for Russia — up from 51 percent who considered it important in the 2008 elections.
The U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov. 8.
The opinion poll was conducted July 9-10, with a sample size of 1,600. People were polled from 130 cities and towns in 46 Russian regions and republics. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5 percent, according to VTsIOM.
