Japan will implement a set of economic sanctions against Russia and two pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine after Moscow formally recognized the areas and ordered the deployment of troops there, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday.
The government will suspend visa issuance for officials from the two regions and freeze their assets. It will ban exports to and imports from the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as well as the issuance and trading of new Russian sovereign bonds in Japan, Kishida said.
Japan has condemned the latest Russian move as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as international law. Kishida has stressed the importance of close coordination with other members of the Group of Seven nations in taking a "tough" approach to Russia.