Russia Blacklists Japanese Prime Minister

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida has been included in the list of people affected by sanctions issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) on Wednesday (4/5/2022).

The move came in response to the “unprecedented anti-Russian campaign” led by the Kishida government.

Moscow has blacklisted 63 Japanese officials and public figures, with the foreign ministers, defense ministers, finance and justice ministers among them. They were all barred from entering Russia.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry blamed Tokyo for unacceptable rhetoric against the Russian Federation, including defamation and direct threats, repeated by Japanese public figures, experts and media representatives, and was completely subjected to Western bias against Moscow.

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Since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February, Japan has supported Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, including freezing individual Russian assets, banning imports of certain goods and eliminating coal imports, which account for about 11% of Japan’s coal needs.

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In March, amid deteriorating relations, Russia ended a provision since 1991 allowing Japanese nationals to visit the Kuril Islands without a visa and has cut talks with Japan to formally end World War Two, citing Tokyo’s “openly unfriendly” behavior.

The two countries never formally signed a peace treaty after World War II, due to disputes over the four southernmost Kuril islands, which Japan calls the “Northern Territories”.

(sya)

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