Moscow, Dec 1 (IANS/TASS) Russians increasingly feel that the world is heading back to the dreaded Cold War period, the results of a public opinion poll suggested Monday.

Three out of 10 Russians have said that a cold war between Russia and the West might lie ahead, according to the poll results.

A quarter of those asked said that it had already arrived.

While around the same number blamed the US and Europe for a return to the days of confrontation, one in five put their faith in Russia’s president and the government to thaw the chill.

The probability of a cold war has been growing over time, respondents said, sending an assessment index to 70 points in November from a reading of 36 points in March and a minus 10 figure in February 2013.

Sixteen hundred people were questioned in 46 regions about resumption of global super-power confrontations, which lasted from soon after the end of the Second World War until the Soviet Union’s breakup in 1991.