A Levada poll released in August 2018 found that 68% of Russian respondents believe that Russia needs to dramatically improve relations with the United States and other Western countries. According to "The Moscow Times", "Russians increasingly view the United States in a positive light following a presidential" summit in Helsinki in July 2018. "For the first time since 2014, the number of Russians who said they had “positive” feelings towards the United States (42 percent) outweighed those who reported “negative” feelings (40 percent)."