(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Strengthening ties with the United States is a priority for very few people in Russia, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. Only nine per cent of respondents think new Russian president Dmitry Medvedev should focus on improving the bilateral relationship.

On the other hand, 28 per cent of respondents want Medvedev to concentrate on strengthening Russia’s influence among former Soviet states, while 17 per cent want him to integrate Russia into Europe, and 17 per cent call for enhanced relations with new global economic leaders, such as China, India and Brazil.

Vladimir Putin was elected to a second term as president in March 2004 with 71.31 per cent of all cast ballots. In April 2005, Putin ruled out seeking a new mandate.

Russian voters renewed the State Duma in December 2007. United Russia (YR)—whose candidate list was headed by Putin—secured 64.1 per cent of the vote and 315 of the legislature’s 450 seats. On that same month, Putin endorsed Medvedev as a presidential candidate, and Medvedev said it would be of the "utmost importance" to have Putin as prime minister.

On Mar. 14, Medvedev easily won Russia’s presidential election with 70.28 per cent of the vote. He was sworn in on May 7. His nomination of Putin as prime minister was confirmed by the State Duma the next day, in a 392-56 vote.

In the 1990s, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)—a coalition encompassing 12 former Soviet Republics—was assembled.

In April, U.S. president George W. Bush and Putin signed an agreement that seeks a greater commercial exchange between the two nations. On May 8, Daniel Fried, the U.S. assistant state secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, referred to the treaty, saying, "The Strategic Framework Declaration committed the two governments to seek to expand economic cooperation. In order to provide a stable and predictable environment for investment and to strengthen investor confidence, the United States and Russia will advance efforts on a new Bilateral Investment Treaty."

Polling Data

Which of these should be the main priority for the new Russian president as far as foreign policy is concerned?

Source: All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted on Apr. 5 and Apr. 6, 2008. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.

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