Where Countries Stand on Russia

While most of Europe and North America condemns Russia for its war in Ukraine, as far as politics goes, it’s not a universal stance. New analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit has found that Russia’s support base is slowly growing in some parts of the world. Where 29 countries used to lean towards Russia in 2022, that number has now risen to 35. Conversely, while the number of countries either West-leaning or actively condemning Russia is still by far the bigger group, its figures have dropped from 131 to 122. The EIU says this fall is partly driven by the shift of a number of emerging economies into a more neutral position.

The following map uses EIU data to show different countries’ stances on Russia ranging from condemnation to support, as of March 2023. While Africa shows a patchwork quilt of positionings, the EIU reports that a number of its countries have moved towards the Russian side in the past year. Where South Africa and Uganda were politically neutral on the topic in 2022, they are now listed as Russia-leaning. Meanwhile, where Burkina Faso and Mali were Russia-leaning before, they are now outright supportive of Russia. In Latin America, Bolivia was highlighted as a notable country for its position shift, having also moved from neutral to pro-Russia by 2023.

At the same time, the number of neutral countries has risen from 32 to 35. One country to buck the trend is Bangladesh, which has moved the opposite direction, shifting from being neutral to West-leaning between 2022 and 2023.