Japan expands sanctions on Russia over Ukraine invasion

Japan dialed up sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, announcing an expanded list on Friday that in-cluded an export ban on electric vehicles.

Russia was hit with a wave of sanctions after it sent forces into Ukraine in February last year, but calls have grown from Kyiv and its allies for tougher action against Moscow.

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Tokyo has already frozen assets of Russian individuals and groups, and banned the export of goods to Russia’s military-related organizations, as well as the export of construction and engineering services.

On Friday, the government expanded the list of goods under its export ban to include vehicles fitted with engines of 1,900 cc or more, as well hybrid and electric cars, the trade ministry said in a statement.

The new sanctions, approved by the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday, will take effect on August 9.

“As it’s been more than a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, we have been expanding the list of items” under the ex-port ban, ministry official Noriyuki Kuroda told reporters.

The latest sanctions follow similar embargoes unveiled by the United States and the European Union, Kuroda said.

Other items added to the export ban list include steel, plastic products, and electronic parts “that can be diverted to mili-tary use,” he said.

At the Group of Seven summit in Japan in May, the bloc’s leaders agreed to “starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine”.

The United States, Britain and the European Union have levied crushing sanctions against Moscow over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as committed more military aid to Kyiv.

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