TOKYO, March 24. /ITAR-TASS/. The majority of Japanese believe that Tokyo should pursue a more independent policy in connection with the crisis around Ukraine, and should not just tighten sanctions against Russia together with the West, 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% of those polled supported the “tightening of sanctions against Russia in coordination with the United States and European Union. At the same time, 52% of respondents believe that Japan, in connection with the situation around Ukraine, should pursue “an independent diplomatic policy”, taking into account the importance of negotiations with Russia 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 economic relations.