Trump popularity plummets in Russia, poll shows

President Donald Trump, dogged since his election by accusations of improper connections to Russia, has seen his popularity wane in that country in recent weeks.

A survey released Monday by state pollster VTsIOM found that the percentage of Russians who view the U.S. president negatively has spiked from 7 percent to 39 percent in a single month, according to Reuters.

Positive opinions of Trump among Russians dipped from 38 percent to 13 percent, according to an RT report on the survey, while 38 percent of respondents said they didn't care one way or another.

Additionally, 55 percent of respondents said they had not seen any change in U.S.-Russia relations since Trump's inauguration. Some 20 percent said relations had improved, but 17 percent said the relationship had actually gotten worse.

The survey reportedly was conducted April 11 and 12, following a U.S. missile attack on a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical attack allegedly perpetrated by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Russia has backed Assad in the Syrian civil war pitting the Syrian army against rebel factions in the country.

"The U.S. missile strike on Syria was a 'cold shower' for many Russians," said Valery Fedorov, the general director for VTsIOM, according to Reuters. "Donald Trump's aggressive behavior has resurrected distrust and ill will towards America, something that has characterized Russian society for the last two decades."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Moscow last week that relations between the U.S. and Russia were at a "low point," but that such a reality was unacceptable.

"There is a low level of trust between our two countries. The world's two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship," Tillerson said.

Copyright 2017 U.S. News & World Report

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