Number of Russians Viewing Moscow-EU Ties as Negative Quadruples in Decade

The number of Russians who assess the relationship between Russia and Europe as negative has increased more than four times in the last decade, a new poll revealed Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The level of dissatisfaction among the Russian public with the state of Moscow-EU relations has increased from 17 to 73 percent in the last 10 years, according to the poll by the Russian Public Opinion Foundation (FOM).

Over 50 percent of respondents said that relations between the European Union and Russia particularly deteriorated last year, despite Moscow's attempts to converge with the European powers.

About 15 percent of those polled believe that the bilateral relations could be described as good, the survey revealed, while 44 percent of respondents generally believe that Europe is not inclined to "making peace."

In 2014, relations between Russia and the West deteriorated as Crimea became part of Russia, and as Washington and its European allies blamed Moscow for its alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis. The European Union, as well as the United States and some other countries, imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia's energy, banking and defense sectors.

Moscow has firmly denied the allegations and repeatedly stated the sanctions are counterproductive and undermine international stability.