MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - The vast majority of Russians (61%) think that a military conflict between Russia and Western countries is unlikely, with 14% of Russians ruling out such a possibility, showed an opinion poll conducted by the Levada Center amongst 1,603 people in 45 Russian regions on March 21-24.
Just 16% of Russians think that a military conflict with the West is possible. Nine percent are undecided.
Russians (62%), however, think that there are reasons to fear NATO member states, 27% see the opposite. Forty-four percent think that it is NATO that has reason to be afraid of Russia, 45% disagree with them.
Nearly half of Russians (48%) think that a repetition of the Cold War would pose a threat to Russia, 40% are of the opposite opinion and 12% are undecided.
The number of respondents who think that Russia enjoys a lot of influence in the world grew from 51% in 2011 to 70% in March 2014. The number of those who think that Russia's influence on global affairs is insignificant fell from 38% in 2011 to 22% this March. Just 3% are sure that Russia has no influence on global affairs which is a 5% drop compared to 2011.
The poll also showed that the attitude of Russians to Western countries and Ukraine changed greatly in two weeks of March. A poll conducted on March 7-10 indicated that 34% had positive attitudes towards the United States. The figure stood at 26% in March 21-24 poll. Sixty-one percent had negative attitudes compared to 56% in early March.
Some 32% of respondents are positive over the EU (45% in March 7-10 poll), 53% are negative (41%). Ukraine received a positive attitude from 52% (63% two weeks earlier) and negative attitude from 37% (25%).