Japan will impose sanctions on Belarus as early as this week for its role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday.
"Given Belarus' obvious involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we have decided to take sanction measures against individuals including President (Alexander) Lukashenko as well as entities, and implement export control measures," Kishida said in parliament.
"This should be carried out within this week," Kishida said. Belarus, known for its close ties with Russia, has served as an entry point for Moscow's forces invading Ukraine.
In the session of the House of Councillors' Budget Committee, Kishida again dismissed former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's suggestion that Japan commence discussions on the possibility of a nuclear-sharing arrangement with the United States in the wake of Russia's aggression in Ukraine, a nonnuclear state.
"It is hard to allow for such an idea and the government has no plan to discuss it," Kishida said, reiterating the idea is not in line with Japan's three nonnuclear principles of not producing, possessing or allowing nuclear arms on its territory.
In World War II, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by U.S. atomic bombs. Kishida, elected from a Hiroshima constituency, has been calling for a world free of nuclear weapons.
