40% of Europeans Say EU Anti-Russian Sanctions Should Not Be Lifted: Poll

MOSCOW, December 19 (Sputnik) — Forty percent of European Union citizens polled argue that sanctions imposed by the West on Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict should not be lifted, according to a poll conducted by ICM Research exclusively for the Sputnik news agency.

Another 29 percent of respondents across Germany, the United Kingdom and France said that anti-Russian sanctions should be lifted, while only 19 percent thought that sanctions should be tightened.

Forty percent of Germans, the highest number among the three countries, said that sanctions against Russia should be lifted. Only fourteen percent of Germans said additional restrictive measures should be imposed against Russia.

Forty-five percent of UK residents, and thirty-six percent in France argued that anti-Russian sanctions should remain, twenty-one and twenty percent respectively in the two countries said extra sanctions must be implemented.

ICM Research questioned over 3,000 people in Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. Telephone interviews with adults were conducted in December 2014.

In July, the European Council adopted sanctions targeting Russia's energy, defense and banking sectors over Moscow's stance on the Ukrainian conflict. Economic sanctions were preceded by several rounds of restrictions imposed by the European Union, the United States and their allies against Russian and Crimean officials and individuals Brussels believed to have played a role in "destabilizing" Ukraine. Russia has denied the allegations.