On February 23, 2022, the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, made an announcement that Japan will implement a set of economic sanctions against Russia and the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (“DPR”) and Luhansk People’s Republic (“LPR”) in eastern Ukraine.
Japan has condemned the latest Russian move of recognizing the break-away areas as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as international law. Accordingly, the Japanese government has decided to take the following economic sanctions measures following coordination with international society:
1. The government will suspend issuing visas for officials from the two regions, the DPR and the LPR, and also freeze their assets;
2. It will ban exports to and imports from the same regions; and
3. It will ban the issuance and trading of new Russian sovereign bonds in Japan.
These measures will come into force once the relevant legislative process has been completed.
Prime Minister Kishida did not deny the likelihood of additional measures in response to any further Russian military action.
Kishida has stressed the importance of close coordination with international society including members of the G7 nations in taking a “tough” response to Russia.
