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Brits split over Russia-Georgia conflict, new survey reveals

22/08/2008

The British public is divided over Russia's military response to its conflict with Georgia, a new politics.co.uk has revealed.

In one of the first surveys of British opinion since Russia entered South Ossetia two weeks ago, a slim majority of respondents expressed sympathy with Russian actions.

Fifty seven per cent of those questioned said Russia acted proportionately in the conflict, with 43 per cent saying it acted disproportionately.

Asked if the UK should impose economic sanctions on Russia, 71 per cent of respondents said no, with only 24 per cent supporting the idea.

But when users were asked if they could imagine a situation where the UK went to war with Russia, only 52 per cent said no, with 48 per cent of users saying they could envisage that possibility.

Asked more generally about UK-Russian relations, the picture becomes slightly more uniform.

Not a single respondent described relations as 'good' or 'very good'. Thirty eight per cent said they were 'OK', 33 per cent said they were 'bad' and 26 per cent described relations as 'very bad'.

Nor were there any clear answers to how Britain should try to change Russian behaviour, apart from a definite belief the UK should not try to do so on its own. Only ten per cent of users selected that option.

A majority of people wanted the UK to go through the EU route, with 52 per cent of users picking this option. Twenty-four per cent believed Britain should go through the UN and 14 per cent wanted Britain to work in tandem with the United States.

Russia has promised to withdraw all of its troops from the region by today, with western diplomats watching closely to make sure Russia keeps to its ceasefire agreement.