Republican Party candidate Donald Trump is Russia's favorite to win the U.S. presidential elections, a survey by the state-backed Public Opinion Fund (FOM) pollster has revealed.
Some 44 percent of respondents said that a Trump victory would be in Russia's interests, while just 7 percent backed Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton.
Twenty-three percent said that the outcome would not matter for Russia, with another 27 percent struggling to answer.
The majority of respondents (61 percent) held negative views of Clinton, the survey found. Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed said that ties between Moscow and Washington would suffer if Clinton entered the White House, while 35 percent said relations would remain unchanged. Only 8 percent viewed Clinton positively, and one in ten claimed that Russia's relations with the U.S. would improve.
While 38 percent of Russians rated Trump positively, one in five said that they held negative views. Thirty-seven percent said that U.S-Russian relations would improve if the Republican took office, with 38 percent foreseeing no change. Just 6 percent said that ties would worsen.
Respondents also believed that Trump would ultimately win the election. Thirty-six percent said that the businessman would enter the Oval Office, compared to 31 percent who believed in a Clinton victory.
The U.S presidential elections will be held on Nov. 8.
