Japan, Tokyo –Japan will freeze the assets of four more Russian banks in retaliation for Russia’s military activities in Ukraine, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Thursday.
Japan’s new sanctions came in response to the European Union’s (EU) announcement on Wednesday that seven Russian banks would not be allowed to use the SWIFT messaging system, which is the main way to move money around the world.
SWIFT said in a statement that it will withdraw seven Russian banks from its network on March 12, in accordance with EU legislation. At a news conference on the subject, Suzuki said, “Japan welcomes the European Union’s decision and will vigorously enforce penalties against other Group of Seven members,” Additionally, knowledgeable sources reported that the Japanese government froze the assets of 18 additional Russian officials and seven high-ranking Belarusian officials, as well as two Belarusian organisations on Thursday.
According to the statement, the Japanese government is also contemplating imposing more rigorous export control restrictions on Belarus. Japan has already slapped Russia with a slew of penalties. Moscow has pledged to react to nations putting sanctions on Russia with economic ramifications of its own. Japan’s Finance Ministry says that its decision to cut Russia out of SWIFT will come into effect on April 2, which is the day after.
