Japanese Prime Minister Kishida said that the Cabinet is ready to impose sanctions in case of “aggression” of Russia
Photo: Yoshikazu Tsuno / Reuters
Japan is ready to impose much tougher sanctions than in 2014, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers are preparing a detailed plan of restrictions for Russian individuals and legal entities in case of Russia's “invasion” of Ukraine, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a meeting of the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on 14 February, according to the Nikkei newspaper.
“We are coordinating with the US and the EU in the event of [Russian aggression against Ukraine and large-scale economic] sanctions against Russia,” the prime minister said. He specified that everything would depend on the actions of the G7 allies.
Kishida also added that the Japanese draft sanctions could be tightened in the future. At the moment, the government has announced sanctions against the financial, energy and defense sectors.
On February 5, it became known that the Japanese government, despite US calls to consider imposing anti-Russian economic sanctions, was not going to threaten the application of preventive restrictions “until the moment when the Russian invasion actually occurs.”
Representatives of the Japanese Cabinet of Ministers, in particular Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Cabinet Secretary General Hirokazu Matsuno, previously refused to comment on possible measures from Tokyo in the event of an escalation of the conflict due to the lack of direct evidence of “Russian aggression” against Ukraine.
