Jun 27, 2022 (NHK) - Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has announced additional sanctions against Russia, including a ban on imports of Russian gold.
Kishida and other Group of Seven leaders discussed diplomatic and security issues at their summit in southern Germany's Schloss Elmau on Sunday.
Kishida touched on the situation in Ukraine and said the world stands at a crossroads in history and is being tested on whether it can maintain international order based on rules.
He noted that frameworks such as the United Nations Security Council have not been able to deal with the current situation sufficiently.
The additional sanctions he announced include a ban on imports of Russian gold and on providing accounting, trust and some other services to Russia.
Kishida also said Japan will expand its asset freeze measures to cover an additional 70 Russian individuals and organizations and will implement a ban on exports to 90 military-related organizations.
Apparently with China in mind, Kishida said that Japan rejects a world in which any unilateral change to the status quo by force, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is tolerated.
He pledged commitment to strengthening international order based on the rule of law. He said other countries must not learn the wrong lessons from the Ukraine crisis.
Kishida also mentioned a series of intrusions by Chinese government ships into Japanese waters and a unilateral gas field development in the East China Sea.
He reiterated that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force cannot be accepted.
Kishida pointed out the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and expressed hope to strengthen security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
The prime minister also referred to North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs. He said the world must not allow the North to misunderstand that a window for further advancing the programs has opened as the international community is focusing on the Ukraine crisis.
He stressed the need to realize the North's complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction.
