TOKYO, February 14. /TASS/. Economic and personal sanctions imposed against Russia are meaningless and should be lifted, Japanese upper house of parliament member Muneo Suzuki told a TASS correspondent.
Commenting on the telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, he said: "I think Japan should make it clear that economic and personal sanctions are meaningless and should be lifted." "Their introduction was a big mistake and miscalculation by the previous US administration of Joe Biden. At the beginning he said that if economic sanctions were imposed, Russia would back down in two months, but it has been three years," he said.
"Russia is a world power, it cannot lose to Ukraine. This (sanctions - TASS) was Biden's big mistake," the lawmaker said, adding that the same applies to Fumio Kishida, who was Japan's prime minister at the time and joined the sanctions policy against Russia.
According to Suzuki, Japan can now play a role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine. "[Current] Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was not involved in that decision [to impose sweeping sanctions against Russia], so he his hands are not tied. I think he should make an impartial decision and lift the economic and personal sanctions," the lawmaker said.
Recommendation to prime minister
In addition, Suzuki said that it would be great if Ishiba "makes constructive steps and statements that would promote cooperation between Japan and the United States, Japan and Russia, and the three countries."
Earlier, speaking to TASS, Suzuki pointed out that "Japan is the only G7 country that did not send weapons to [Kiev] in the Ukrainian conflict." "Therefore, I believe that Japan is in a position where it can cooperate and contribute to [creating] a ceasefire framework or working toward a ceasefire," he said at the time.