Japan would impose sanctions on Russia targeting semiconductor exports and financial institutions, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday after G7 leaders agreed to punish Moscow economically for invading Ukraine.
The announcement came after Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a full-scale ground invasion and air assault on Thursday.
Kishida said that the world’s third-largest economy planned “asset freezes and the suspension of visa issuance for Russian individuals and organizations,” as well as asset freezes “targeting Russian financial institutions.”
Photo: AP
“Thirdly, we will sanction exports to Russian military-related organizations, and exports to Russia of general-purpose goods such as semiconductors and items on a restricted list based on international agreements,” he told reporters.
Kishida did not detail the scale of the sanctions or which individuals and institutions would be targeted, although local media said that Bank Rossiya, Promsvyazbank and Russia’s economic development bank VEB would be affected.
The US has also announced export controls on sensitive components that US President Joe Biden said would “cut off more than half of Russia’s high-tech imports.”
Japan is a key US ally and member of the G7, which held virtual talks overnight and agreed “to move forward on devastating packages of sanctions and other economic measures to hold Russia to account,” Biden said.
On Wednesday, Tokyo announced a ban on the issuing and trade of Russian government bonds in Japan after Moscow ordered troops into two Ukrainian regions.
Russia’s ambassador to Tokyo yesterday said that the “counterproductive measures” would meet with a “serious response” from Moscow, without offering details.
“There will be a response from us; I suppose there will be a serious response from us,” Mikhail Galuzin told reporters, describing the sanctions as being fueled by “really baseless pretexts.”
Japan and Russia have complex relations. They did not sign a peace treaty after World War II because of a lingering dispute over four islands claimed by Moscow in the closing days of the conflict.
The islands, off Hokkaido, are known as the southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
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