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Best friends: Russians name Belarus, Kazakhstan as main partners in post-Soviet space

According to those polled, the rights of the Russian-speaking population are best guaranteed in Belarus

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/. Most Russians believe Belarus and Kazakhstan are the most reliable partners in the post-Soviet space, according to a poll released by the Russian National Public Opinion Research Center on Tuesday.

"Like before, our citizens name Belarus (60%) and Kazakhstan (47%) among Russia’s main partners on the global scene. Senior citizens are traditionally more positive toward these countries than the youth. Ukraine is ranked the lowest in the two ratings among the others," the center said in a statement.

In addition, according to the poll, Russians named Belarus (68%) and Kazakhstan (52%) as the most stable and most successful countries in the post-Soviet space. They are followed by Azerbaijan (16%), Armenia (14%), Georgia (12%) and Uzbekistan (10%). That said, just 13% indicated Armenia as Russia’s most reliable partner, one in 10 believed that it was Uzbekistan, 9% named Azerbaijan, and 6% pointed to Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Tajikistan.

According to those polled, the rights of the Russian-speaking population are best guaranteed in Belarus (66%) and Kazakhstan (31%). Fewer Russians named Armenia (12%), Uzbekistan (7%), Azerbaijan (5%) and Georgia (5%).

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko topped the trust rating with 65%, while Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev garnered 49%, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev chalked up just 14%. They are followed by Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko with 3% and 1% correspondingly trusting them.

The poll was carried out by the leading Russian pollster on November 8, 2018, among 1,600 respondents, with the margin of sampling error not more than 2.5% with a 95% probability.