Japan has stepped up its punitive actions against Russia amid ongoing tensions over the Ukraine conflict, imposing a ban on Russian diamonds for non-industrial use and significantly broadening its trade embargo. The recent export blacklist, unveiled on Friday, has incorporated an additional 57 Russian entities as well as six organizations sprawling across the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Armenia.
With these new measures, Japan’s sanctions now encompass a total of 494 Russian organizations. Moreover, 27 entities from Belarus, a staunch Russian ally, have also faced restrictions. These intensified sanctions are reflective of the commitments made by the Group of Seven (G7) nations, who convened in a virtual summit with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier in the month as a gesture of unity with Kyiv.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Japan has adopted a notably more assertive stance against Moscow compared to its regional counterparts, who have been largely reluctant to pick sides in the conflict. During the G7 summit hosted in Hiroshima back in May, Kishida declared an “unwavering solidarity” with Ukraine and decried efforts to alter the status quo through force.
In an effort to rally global support, Zelenskyy’s high-profile appearance in Hiroshima during the summit was pivotal; he implored the international community to ensure that Russia is the “last aggressor.” Furthermore, as the United States’ key ally and the sole Asian member of the G7, Tokyo has characterized Russia’s military incursion as a universal threat to peace and connected the plight of Ukraine to the security of Taiwan, which has been facing pressures of “reunification” from China.
The ongoing conflict has also seen Moscow’s retaliatory measures, with over 380 Japanese parliamentarians being placed on a blacklist last year as a rejoinder to Tokyo’s outspokenness on the war. These lawmakers have been accused by Moscow of engaging in “an unfriendly, anti-Russian stance” and issuing “unfounded accusations” concerning Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
