Story highlights Just 12% of those polled have a favorable view of Putin

That's among the lowest ratings found among the 11 world leaders tested

Washington (CNN) Allegations that Russia's government sought to influence the US presidential election have captured the attention of a vast majority of the American public, but there is little agreement on whether the allegations are true, or how the new president will handle the country going forward, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll.

Overall, nearly 8-in-10 say they have been closely following news about Russia's attempts to influence the US presidential election last year, including 84% of Democrats, 75% of independents and 72% of Republicans. But the partisan agreement ends there.

Majorities say that if the assessment were to prove true, these attempts would be a crisis or major problem for the US (65% say so), and that the outcome of the election would have been the same regardless of the information released (58% say that). Further, 56% say that despite this situation, the US ought to continue its efforts to improve relations with Russia rather than take strong economic and diplomatic steps against Russia.

But there is less agreement on whether the intelligence community's conclusions are correct. About 43% say it is extremely or very likely that the intelligence community's assessment is correct, with another 32% saying that is somewhat likely. About one-quarter, 24%, say it's unlikely to be true. Democrats are more likely to think the intelligence community's assessment is correct: 74% of Democrats see that as very or extremely likely, compared with 17% of Republicans.

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