Some Residents In This Russian City Wants To Rename Street After Trump

Some residents in the Russian city of Ryazan wants to rename a street in their town after president-elect Donald Trump.

CNN reported on Tuesday that a petition had started in the town about 125 miles south of Moscow to rename a street currently named “Godless” to “Donald Trump Street.” The petition was titled “Make Ryazan Great Again.” The current name has a connection to the country’s Soviet past when religion was not encouraged. (RELATED: Trump Questions Legitimacy Of Russia Hacking Probe)

Donald Trump (Getty Images)

“Some saw it as a joke and signed because it was fun, some stood for normalization of US-Russia ties, and some signed because they don’t like the name of Godless Street,” Sergey Bizyukin said of the petition he started.

“Like any other city, Ryazan has its share of problems in economy, with infrastructure,” he added. “Some of them are being sorted out, some are sorted out very slowly, and it may take a while to talk about some of the problems.”

Adding that the move is his way of trying to improve relations between U.S. and Russia. “There are enough options for cooperation, for friendship, for economic cooperation, as well as culture and other fields,” he continued.

“They have good ties,” one man said. “Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin respects Donald Trump exactly the same way Donald Trump respects Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.”

In the city with a population of more than 500,000, 300 people have signed the petition agreeing to the name change.

Not everyone though is thrilled with the idea.

“I don’t think it makes sense to rename it,” one man said. “What’s going to change?”

“It could be a sign of respect to Trump, that’s all,” another resident told the outlet. “But we shouldn’t do it now, maybe later. But it won’t make much difference, just to show respect.”