Tokyo, 25 February, /AJMEDIA/
Japan will impose additional sanctions targeting Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday, joining the United States and Europe in piling pressure on Moscow.
The new package of sanctions include export controls on high-tech products such as semiconductors, a freeze on assets held by Russian financial institutions, and a suspension of visa issuance for certain Russian individuals and entities.
The announcement came hours after leaders from the Group of Seven nations condemned Russia and pledged to take “severe and coordinated” economic and financial sanctions in response to its “completely unjustified” attack.
“It is an extremely serious situation with ramifications for the international order, not just in Europe but Asia and beyond,” Kishida told a press conference.
“Japan needs to show its resolve not to allow any change to the status quo by force,” Kishida said, condemning the Russian military attack as a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The sanctions are the results of close coordination with the United States and European nations, and symbolize “the strength of unity” in efforts to prevent a further escalation, Kishida said.
On Wednesday, Tokyo unveiled the first set of sanctions against Russia, banning the issuance and trading of new Russian sovereign bonds in Japan, and the two breakaway regions whose independence Moscow recently recognized.
Weeks of diplomatic efforts by major powers and their threat of punitive measures failed to prevent Russia launching a large-scale attack on Ukraine on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a “special military operation” in the Donbas area, which includes the two separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk formally recognized as independent republics by Moscow earlier this week.
“The attack is totally unacceptable from the standpoint of our national security,” Kishida said.
The Ukraine crisis has rocked financial markets, sending crude oil prices sharply higher as Russia is a major energy supplier. It has also challenged the post-Cold War architecture, with Russia increasingly wary of the expansion eastward of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to include Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest financial institutions and elite individuals among others, along with export controls to limit Moscow’s ability to obtain cutting-edge technology.
The European Union also agreed to slap additional sanctions on Russia covering the financial, energy and transport sectors and impose export controls.
For now, Japan has not targeted the energy sector in its latest tranche of sanctions.
“Depending on how the situation unfolds, we will consider what we should do in coordination with other G-7 members,” Kishida said.
A decades-old territorial dispute with Russia has been seen as a headache for Japan in determining how far it should go with sanctions. No post-war peace treaty has been signed with Moscow due to the deadlock over the territorial issue.
Asked about the potential impact of the crisis in Ukraine on peace treaty talks between Japan and Russia, Kishida refrained from commenting on the prospect.
With surging fuel costs threatening to hurt consumer sentiment, Kishida vowed to work closely with oil-producing nations and relevant international organizations to help stabilize the global energy market and minimize the impact on the Japanese economy.
