



Greece is among a handful of NATO nations where Vladimir Putin is more trusted than Donald Trump to do the right thing for the world, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The world-wide poll by the respected Pew Research Center shows that few people trust the Russian President to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs. A global median of roughly one-in-four (26%) say they have confidence in the Russian leader.

Although confidence in Putin’s handling of foreign affairs is generally low, in many countries he is more trusted than American President Donald Trump.

Confidence in Putin most dramatically outpaces that in Trump in Greece and Lebanon (both +31 percentage points) and Vietnam (+21 points).

Overall, Russia’s international image is more negative than positive. Critical opinions of Russia are particularly widespread in the United States and Europe, while views are more mixed in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

In only three countries surveyed do majorities express a favorable opinion of Russia: Vietnam (83%), Greece (64%) and the Philippines (55%).

In Greece, Russia’s favorability rating has remained steady, hovering just above six-in-ten since Pew Research Center began measuring it in 2012; it currently stands at 64%.

Outside of Poland, most European publics express substantial but not overwhelming concern about their neighbor to the east.

Greeks (24%) and Hungarians (28%) are the least worried about Russia’s power and influence.

The new Pew Research Center survey was conducted among 40,951 respondents in 37 countries outside of Russia from February 16 to May 8, 2017.



