Most Japanese against expanding sanctions on Russia over Ukraine - poll

TOKYO, March 24 (Itar-Tass) - The majority of Japanese believe that Tokyo in connection with the crisis around Ukraine should pursue a more independent policy, and not just together with the West tighten sanctions against Russia, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the Nikkei Research centre and TV Tokyo. The poll was conducted by telephone by a random sample method among 1,500 citizens of the country. Only 31 percent of those polled supported the “tightening of sanctions against Russia in co-ordination with the United States and European Union. At the same time, 52 percent of respondents believe that Japan in connection with the situation around Ukraine should pursue “an independent diplomatic policy” with taking into account the importance of negotiations with the RF on the territorial issue and other factors. The Japanese government’s attitude towards the situation over Crimea is more reserved than that of its Western partners. After the signing of the agreement on the peninsula’s accession to Russia, Tokyo, however, announced the suspension of the consultations with Moscow on easing visa restrictions and froze the beginning of talks on a number of documents. However, Japanese government representatives have said that these measures are limited and do not affect the economic relations.