World trusts Putin more than Trump in foreign affairs: Pew survey

MOSCOW — People around the world have more confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin handling world affairs than in his US counterpart Donald Trump, a Pew Research Centre survey showed.

Of 36 countries canvassed, 22, including Germany, France and Japan, trust Mr Putin more, according to the pollster’s 2017 spring survey. People had more confidence in Mr Trump in 13 countries, including the UK, India and Israel. Only Tanzanians saw them as equals. Results from the US, which was also part of the survey, weren’t included in this question, and China wasn’t polled. Pew conducted its research from Feb 16 to May 8.

Pew said that 23 per cent of the American public had confidence in Mr Putin, while 53 per cent share the same feeling for Mr Trump. Globally, a median 60 per cent of people in 37 countries, including the US, said they lack confidence in the Russian leader’s actions in world affairs, versus 26 per cent who said he’s doing a good job. About a third of the nations surveyed see Russia as a major threat to their country, similar to the level of concern caused by China and US.

The survey was taken before Mr Trump signed a bill deepening sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and the Kremlin retaliated by ordering the US to slash staff at its diplomatic missions. Tensions have also risen as Congress and the FBI move forward on probes into potential ties between Mr Trump’s team and Russia during the 2016 US presidential election. Mr Trump has called the investigation a “witch hunt”.

Most Russians believe that Mr Putin has improved their country’s standing in the world, according to the survey by the Washington-based non-partisan group. Meanwhile, American and Russian views of each other have become less harsh. The number of Russians who see the US favourably rose to 41 per cent, from 15 per cent in 2015. The positive feeling also rose among respondents in the US, to 29 per cent from 22 per cent, Pew said. BLOOMBERG