Prime Minister Fumio Kishida today (Friday) stated that Japan will impose sanctions to target Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. This comes after the United States and Europe agreed to punish Moscow economically for the invasion of Ukraine.

Japan imposes new sanctions.

The 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 new sanction comes after President Vladimir Putin unleashed a full-scale ground invasion and air assault on Ukraine on Thursday the 24th of February.

Kishida stated, “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 spoke.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, however, did not detail what the scale of sanctions of the individuals and institution would be.  But information from local media stated banks such as Bank Rossiya, Promsvyazbank and Russia’s economic development bank VEB would be affected.

The United States also has notified export controls on sensitive components, as President Joe Biden stated he will “cut off more than half of Russia’s high-tech imports”.

Japan is a key US ally and member of the Group of Seven, which held virtual talks overnight and agreed to move forward on devastating packages of sanctions and other economic measures to hold Russia to account”, he added.

However, Japan has urged its nationals still in Ukraine to leave the country through exit borders of Ukraine.