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Japan’s Prime Minister says Tokyo will maintain sanctions against Russia

Shinzo Abe says as a G7 member Japan will maintain economic sanctions against Russia regarding the Ukrainian and Crimean problems

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

© AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi

TOKYO, October 31. /TASS/. As a member of the G7 group, Tokyo will maintain sanctions regime against Moscow introduced over the crisis in Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification with Russia, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during a debate in the country’s lower house of parliament.

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"As a G7 member, Japan will maintain economic sanctions against Russia which were introduced regarding the Ukrainian and Crimean problems," he said. At the same time, Japan’s Prime Minister highlighted the importance of developing relations with Russia, particularly emphasizing economic relations. "We believe that developing economic ties with Russia is beneficial not only for Russia but for Japan as well," Abe noted.

The Prime Minister also pointed out that Japan and Russia "had been facing an abnormal situation for over 70 years that needed to be solved," referring to the absence of a peace treaty and also the problem of the ‘Northern Territories’ as Japan refers to Russia’s Southern Kuril Islands.

The Japanese government imposed sanctions on Russia in connection with the situation involving Ukraine. In March 2014, Tokyo suspended the consultations with Moscow on easing the visa regime and indefinitely postponed talks on the potential conclusion of threee treaties concerning investment cooperation, space cooperation and prevention of dangerous military activities. After that Japan announced that it would temporarily stop issuing visas to the 23 members of the Russian state and other bodies. However, their list wasn’t made public.

Besides that, Japan’s government took a decision to confiscate the property of 40 individuals connected to Crimea, as well as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and two Crimean companies. In addition, the Japanese authorities banned Russia’s Vneshtorgbank, Vnesheconombank, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank and Sberbank from issuing securities with maturities of over 90 days without special permission. As reported, Japan has also stepped up inspections aimed at preventing weapons and military technologies exports to Russia.

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