Putin's confidence ratings have fallen to their lowest levels in 20 years around the world, research shows

• A Pew Research Center survey found that Putin's approval ratings have dropped to record lows.
• A median of 90% of people across 18 countries expressed little to no confidence in Putin.

New research published on Wednesday shows that a median of 90% of people across 18 countries said they have little confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "do the right thing" in global affairs.

From February to May, the Pew Research Center polled opinions on Russia, NATO, and Putin among 23,484 adults in countries with advanced economies such as the US, Canada, Spain, Israel, Japan, and Australia.

The survey found that across all 18 countries, a median of 78% said they have no confidence at all that Putin will deal with world affairs responsibly.

"Over the last two decades, ratings for Putin have been on a downward trend in many countries," the researchers wrote. "But in 2022, these numbers reached record lows in every nation where trends are available, with double-digit declines in most since the last survey year."

Malaysia was the only country to buck the trend, with 59% of its respondents expressing at least some or a lot of confidence in Putin.

In the US, only 6% said they trusted the Russian leader to do the right thing on the global stage.

In Europe, Greece was the country that expressed the most positive toward Putin, with 27% of respondents approving of his actions on the world stage.

While the survey didn't ask interviewees any questions about the war in Ukraine, Pew said most interviews were conducted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. The findings show how the war has shaped public opinion, the researchers said.

Pew noted that Europeans who support their country's right-wing populist parties tend to favor Putin more than their counterparts. However, confidence in him has still drastically decreased among these groups since last year.

By comparison, Pew's 2021 survey on the Russian leader found that a median of 74% of people across 17 countries stated that they didn't have much confidence in Putin regarding handling global issues.

The latest Pew figures also mean that Putin is now rated lower worldwide than President Xi Jinping of China, who holds an 18% confidence rating among people from the same 18 countries.

Singapore and Malaysia, the only two Southeast Asian countries in the survey, gave Xi confidence ratings of 69% and 62%, respectively.