Russians Divided Over Western Sanctions' Impact on Life - Poll

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) A total of 33 percent of Russian nationals believe that a possible introduction of new sanctions against Russia will have a significant impact on their life, while 23 percent consider this impact to be insignificant, a fresh poll by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), obtained by Sputnik, has shown.

According to the poll, 30 percent of respondents say that there will be no impact at all, while 14 percent were undecided.

On August 8, the US administration announced new sanctions against Russia, consisting of two packages, due to its alleged use of chemical weapons in the poisoning of Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK city of Salisbury in March.

At least 75 percent of respondents believe that Moscow should maintain a "firm position" in relations with Washington and avoid making any concessions, while 14 percent believe that Russia should "show flexibility" to soften the current situation. The remaining 11 percent were undecided on the issue.

The majority of Russians, 61 percent, also believe that US President Donald Trump somehow personally supports the introduction of new sanctions against Russia, and only 9 percent think that the US leader is not a supporter of these restrictions.

Thus, 31 percent of respondents consider that Trump supports sanctions "in full volume," and other 30 percent said that this support is partial.

A total of 29 percent are not aware of Trump's attitude toward the new anti-Russian sanctions.

The survey was conducted on August 18-19 among 1,500 respondents in 53 constituent entities of Russia.

The first package of new US sanctions, including, in particular, a ban on supplies of dual-purpose electronic devices and components to Russia, took effect on Monday.

According to media reports, the second round of sanctions, which might be imposed in November, might include scaling back diplomatic relations between the two countries, suspending flights of Russian airline Aeroflot to the United States and almost complete cessation of US exports to the country. According to the US State Department, Russia could avoid the second round of sanctions by assuring it would not use chemical weapons in the future.

Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the Skripals case, stressing that London has neither provided evidence nor cooperated with Moscow on investigating the incident.