Japan is planning to impose sanctions on 15 Russian individuals & nine(9) organisations, it said on Friday, among them defence officials and the state-owned arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.
The sanctions, which enclose the freezing of assets, are Japan’s latest actions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that started on February 24. The finance ministry said that it now covers 76 individuals, seven banks, & 12 other bodies in Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova & several makers of military equipment, such as United Aircraft Corp, which manufactures fighter jets, are among those sanctioned in Friday’s measures.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might deliver an online speech to Japan’s parliament on March 22, citing a ruling party legislator.
At the same time, the United States ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, who has applauded Japan’s action as “hitting the heart of Russia’s war machine,” has offered to host Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war in his residence until they find permanent housing in Japan.
Japan is making efforts to take in Ukrainian refugees, with 47 having arrived since the beginning of the war.
The U.S. ambassador to Japan, Emanuel, the grandson of Ukrainian migrants, said in a statement that, “We would like to do our part, too, by helping the evacuees until they are able to move into a permanent residence.”
Earlier this week, a U.S. Air Force cargo jet has flown to Ukraine helmets & several other non-lethal military equipment donated by Japan.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has given no clear indication of the future of Japan’s investment in the projects, highlighting both their significance for its energy security & his preference to keep step with G7 peers’ sanctions against Russia.