Global attitudes towards Russia are worsening (now - Poland without gas)

The poll also suggests that substantially more people now have a negative view of Russia's influence - 42% negative versus 30% positive - and that was before the recent disruption in Russian gas supplies to Europe.

"As for Russia, the more it acts like the old Soviet Union, the less people outside its borders seem to like it," Mr Miller said.

The US, for the first time since 2005, has surpassed Russia in positive ratings, with an average of 40% compared with 35% last year.

But it is still rated negatively by 43% of those polled, down from 47% in the 2008 poll.

Poland`s national gas monopoly said Wednesday it is still suffering significant shortages in gas deliveries coming through Ukraine, long after a deal between Moscow and Kiev ended a bitter pricing dispute that prompted a temporary halt to supplies, AP reported.

Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG) is receiving only 76 percent of its total contracted deliveries from Russia