More than half of Russians know nothing about the signing of the new strategic arms cuts treaty between Russia and the U.S., a poll by the Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) published on Wednesday revealed.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama signed a new arms reduction treaty on April 8, 2010, in Prague. The countries agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 1,550 on each side and the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles to 800 on each side.
The majority of Russians were unaware of the treaty (52%). Women (59%), supporters of the major pro-governmental party United Russia (54%) and people with a low level of education (60%) said they knew nothing about the new treaty, according to the survey.
Only 8% of the respondents were familiar with the signing and the subject matter of the new arms deal.
The poll shows that men (61%), highly-educated persons (59%), supporters of the Communist Party (61%), as well as residents of the central regions knew about this new arms deal.
Forty-six percent of the respondents who are familiar with the treaty said the document was intended to cut the number of existing nuclear arms and restrict the development of new ones. Another 8% considered the treaty to be a step forward in strengthening Russian-U.S. relations and 5% believe the treaty was meant to curtail a possible extension of the U.S. missile defense system in European territories.
One-third of the respondents (33%) said the signing of the treaty is beneficial for both countries, and 27% said the international community would gain from the treaty. Approximately every fifth respondent (22%) believes the U.S. would benefit exclusively from the treaty.
The poll was held on May 1-2, 2010, with 1,600 respondents and a margin of error of 3.4%.
MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti)
