Over Half of Russians Consider US Presidential Elections Important for Russia

RUSSIA 03:54 01.08.2016

Over half of Russians consider the outcome of the upcoming US presidential elections to be important for Russia, the latest polls show.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — As many as 59 percent of Russians stress the importance of November's elections in the United States for Russia, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) revealed.The election, which will be contested between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, is considered to have no importance for Russia by just 18 percent of respondents.

By contrast, in 2008, 15 percent of Russians considered the outcome of the last US presidential elections to have significance for Russia, according to the pollster.

Meanwhile, some 40 percent of those questioned are taking interest in the election campaign, with 11 percent paying close attention to the events. The figures are up from the previous US presidential election, when just 36 percent of Russians paid attention.

The poll was conducted between July 9-10, with 1,600 respondents taking part. The error margin does not exceed 3.5 percentage points.

Over Half of Russians Consider US Presidential Elections Important for Russia