For the eighth consecutive year, Russia earned the lowest approval ratings among four other world powers, while U.S. leadership received the highest approval, at 45 percent, according to a new Gallup poll.
Gallup asked 1,000 people from various countries whether they "approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership" of the U.S., EU, Germany, Russia and China.
Germany had the second highest approval ratings behind the U.S., followed by the EU and China.
Russia placed at the bottom, with only 22 percent support, down two percentage points from 2013 and the only country to receive more disapprovals than approvals.
In 2014, only 5 percent of Ukrainians said they approve of Russian leadership, a 42 percent decrease from the previous year. In the U.S., only 12 percent approved of Putin, marking an 11 point drop from 2013.
"For the past six years, the U.S. has typically received the highest approval ratings and Russia the lowest," wrote Gallup. "But what the trend line does not show is that countries affiliated with the West, particularly NATO countries, soured on Russia dramatically. And, at the same time, Russians and people in many of its former republics - chiefly Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - all felt much more negatively about the leadership of the U.S., the EU and Germany."
Russians gave U.S. leadership the highest disapproval ratings in the world, nearly doubling from 42 percent in 2013 to 82 percent in 2014, while Russian disapproval of E.U. leadership was 70 percent.
"The deteriorating leadership ratings between the West and Russia reflect the tense divisions over the Ukraine crisis in the last year," Gallup wrote.
The West alleges that Russia has been sending troops and weapons to aid pro-Russian rebels fighting against Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, however Putin has repeatedly denied such accusations.
Putin, who has an 86 percent approval rating back home, insists that the U.S. backed a coup in Ukraine and is trying to "defang" the Russian bear so it can steal Siberia's natural resources.
"The growing attitudinal divide between the former Cold War adversaries does not bode well for future negotiations," Gallup wrote, pointing to recent research indicating that people's attitudes about other countries can actually affect foreign policy.
The next highest disapproval of the U.S. comes from the Palestinian Territories, at 72 percent. As Israel's closest ally, the U.S. routinely uses its U.N. veto power to block resolutions that would establish a Palestinian state. The latest example of this occurred in December, when the U.S. and Australia were the only two countries to vote against a U.N Security Council resolution that would have established a Palestinian state by 2017.
China didn't fare too well either, only receiving 29 percent approval, the same as the past two years. Interestingly enough, the 10 countries who viewed China the most favorable were all in Africa, the highest being Mali, at 86 percent. That's likely in part due to China's long history of helping Africa through various programs. The five countries with the highest disapproval of China were all in Europe.
