Since 1975
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • Home
  • Japan
  • Japan coordinating with West over possible Ukraine contingency

Japan coordinating with West over possible Ukraine contingency

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (AP/file)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (AP/file)
Short Url:
14 Feb 2022 10:02:17 GMT9
14 Feb 2022 10:02:17 GMT9

TOKYO: Japan is coordinating with the United States and related European countries on the specifics of possible sanctions against Russia in the event of its invasion into Ukraine, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio said Monday.

Kishida made the revelation at a meeting of executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

At a meeting of the government’s National Security Council earlier in the day, Kishida gave instructions to make every effort to coordinate with relevant countries to prepare for a contingency.

The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, is calling for Japanese nationals in Ukraine to evacuate, citing the possibility of Russian forces entering Ukraine as early as Wednesday.

In a joint statement released Monday, the finance ministers of the Group of Seven countries said that they are prepared to impose major economic and financial sanctions against Russia.

After the Russian annexation of Crimea in southern Ukraine in 2014, Japan imposed sanctions including restricting imports of Crimean goods and banning the issuance of securities by five Russian banks in Japan.

The Japanese sanctions were seen as toothless, however, as the administration of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe avoided a decisive confrontation over concerns about negative implications for Japan-Russia peace treaty negotiations.

Given that the possible invasion into Ukraine could have far greater impact on international order than the 2014 crisis did, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said, “Our sanctions cannot be similar to the previous time.”

The focal point is whether Japan is able to impose sanctions that can strike Russia’s energy sector, its core industry.

The Foreign Ministry official said Japanese sanctions on Russia “could be a double-edged sword.”

Any Japanese sanctions in tandem with the United States and European allies seem certain to delay the peace treaty negotiations with Russia.

However, Japan failing to take a hardline stance against a challenge to the status quo by force could give China a chance for such an attempt in the Indo-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, the need to protect about 150 Japanese nationals in Ukraine is becoming imminent. On Sunday, the Japanese embassy there sent an email urging them to leave the country swiftly, citing media reports on the possibility of an invasion as soon as Wednesday.

A government source said that a rescue operation by Japanese Self-Defense Forces aircraft would become “risky and difficult” once conflict breaks out.

At a press conference Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno called on Japanese citizens in Ukraine to evacuate immediately, warning that it may become difficult to exit the country by air in the near future.

Matsuno said that the government plans to downsize its embassy in the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev and to open a temporary liaison office in the western city of Lviv, near the Polish border.

JIJI Press

Most Popular
Recommended

return to top