By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: The majority of Russians are against further nuclear disarmament, the Russia Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) said Thursday.
Sixty percent of Russians believe the country needs nuclear weapons to assure its security in case of war, according to a survey by VTsIOM.
A total of 1,600 people took part in the poll. The statistical margin of error is 3.4 percent.
A quarter said nuclear weapons should be preserved to demonstrate Russia’s political power, with only four percent saying the stockpile is needed to counter US military potential.
In 1991, almost half of Russians (48 percent) were in favour of nuclear disarmament, the pollster said. Now, the figure stands at 19 percent.
VTsIOM analyst Yulia Baskakova said the drop indicated that Russians no longer welcome disarmament as the country’s defence potential.
They believe that further cuts of nuclear stockpiles would pose a threat to Russia’s security.
However, Baskakova said the figures also showed significant changes in people’s perception since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Then, there was a mass euphoria, many hoped that the fall of the Iron Curtain would bring universal peace and strengthen cooperation with other countries. But practice showed Russia has maintained its own interests in the political arena, and these do not always coincide with those of other nations,” she said.
When asked who benefited more from the signing of a new arms cuts treaty between Russia and the US, 33 percent said both countries, 22 percent said Washington and four percent said Russia. More than a quarter of Russians (27 percent) said the pact benefited the entire world.
The treaty, signed by the Russian and US presidents in Prague in April, stipulates that the number of nuclear warheads is to be reduced to 1,550 on each side, while the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles must not exceed 800 on each side.
The document, which is now being considered by the two countries’ parliaments, is to replace the START 1 treaty that expired in December 2009.