53% of Russians have positive view of United States

MOSCOW, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A majority of Russians, 53 percent, say they have a positive view of the United States -- a 3 percent drop from 2012 -- a Levada-Center poll found.

Levada-Center said Friday the poll found 36 percent of respondents have a negative attitude toward the United States -- up by 4 percent from last year -- and 11 percent were uncertain, RIA Novosti reported.

The poll found 88 percent of Russians held a positive attitude toward Belarus, 77 percent said the same about Ukraine, and 64 percent said the same of the EU.

Levada-Center, based in Moscow, is a non-governmental polling and sociological research organization.

The RIA Novosti reported did not included information on polling methodology.