WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- A recent poll indicates that most Russians are not nearly as concerned with Iran's nuclear program as Americans.
The poll shows that while the majority of Russians and Americans believe the United Nations should discourage countries from acquiring nuclear weapons, 64 percent of Americans surveyed said they would be very concerned if Iran developed nuclear weapons while only 29 percent of Russians surveyed said the same.
If Iran continues to produce nuclear fuel capable of developing nuclear weapons, 68 percent of Americans would support U.N. sanctions while 62 percent of Russians would prefer diplomatic negotiations, according to the poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org and the Levada Center,
Andrew Kuchins, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment, said that Russia is "more inclined to see Iran as a partner," noting that Russia's relations with Iran are not as strained as America's.
"For the Russians, the Iranians never criticized the war on Chechnya," Kuchins said.
The poll, which included 1,023 Americans and 1,000 Russians, also addressed viewpoints on China from both Russia and the United States.
One percent of Americans polled said China's system of government was very favorable and 80 percent said it was either somewhat or very unfavorable. Fourteen percent of Russians thought it very favorable and only three percent said it was very unfavorable.
The poll suggested that Russians tend to have more positive attitudes toward China than Americans, especially on issues dealing with the use of military force.
