Putin's rating hits record high, Obama's drops to record low

According to opinion polls, President Vladimir Putin's rating rose again in March and reached the record level of 82.3 percent.

The head of state has earned such high approvals primarily in connection with the entry of the Crimea in the Russian Federation, VTsIOM research center said. Most Russians support Putin;s stance on Ukraine.

It should be added that at the beginning of the year, Vladimir Putin's rating was a bit higher than than 60 percent. the rating of the Russian president has been growing steadily for two consecutive months. Putin's current approval rating has neared the level from February 2008, when it reached 82.9 percent.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, the number of Americans, who do not approve the work of sitting U.S. President Barack Obama has grown to 59 percent. This set a new record for Obama, a survey conducted by GfK said, The Associated Press reports.

Obama's anti-rating has been growing steadily since the end of 2012. In January, 53 percent of Americans were negative in their attitude to Obama, which was five percent less than in the previous month.

The poll results in March 2014 showed a sharp decline in the rankings. Only 39 percent of Americans approve of their president's work. International policies of the White House receive most intense criticism. The number of people who disapprove of Obama's activities in relation to other countries has increased since January by ten percent - to 58 percent.

According to the poll, 57 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's policies in relation to events in Ukraine. The survey also addressed the relations between Russia and the United States in the context of Ukrainian events: 54 percent of respondents do not agree with Obama's actions.

The poll was conducted on March 20-24; over 1,000 people took part in it.