Consistent with views of the country overall, confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin to do the right thing regarding world affairs is overwhelmingly low, with a median of 87% across 24 countries expressing not too much or no confidence at all.
The share with no confidence in Putin ranges from 98% in Poland and Sweden to 26% in Indonesia. In eight countries, at least eight-in-ten express no confidence at all in Putin. Views are most positive in India, where about six-in-ten express confidence in Putin, including 19% who say they have a lot of confidence in Putin.
As with Russian favorability, confidence in Putin reached record lows in many countries last year and has remained low or fallen even further this year. In Argentina, where the question was last asked in 2019, views of Putin have fallen from 30% in 2019 to 14% in 2023. In nine countries, confidence in Putin has reached a record low. For example, the share of Germans who are confident in Putin to do the right thing regarding world affairs has dropped from 14% in 2022 to 8% in 2023.
In India and Indonesia, however, confidence in Putin has reached record highs. The share of Indians who express confidence in the Russian president has risen 17 percentage points since the question was last asked in 2019. In Indonesia, this share is up 7 points, from 36% in 2019 to 43% in 2023.
Confidence in Putin varies by ideology in some places. Those on the right of the political spectrum are often more likely to say they are confident in Putin to do the right thing regarding world affairs than those on the left. For example, in Italy, 16% of those on the right say they are confident in the Russian president, compared with 4% of those on the left who say the same. In Israel, however, the opposite is true. Those on the left (19%) are somewhat more likely to say they have confidence in Putin than those on the right (4%).
Europeans who support right-wing populist parties in their country are more likely to express confidence in Putin, compared with those who say they do not support the right-wing populist parties in their country, a pattern observed in previous surveys. For example, among Hungarians who have a favorable view of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s governing Fidesz, 29% express confidence in Putin to do the right thing regarding world affairs compared with 6% of those who do not support the party. Similar patterns can be seen in France (National Rally), Germany (Alternative for Germany), Greece (Greek Solution), Italy (Lega and Forza Italia), the Netherlands (Party for Freedom and Forum for Democracy) and the UK (Reform UK).
