Japan intents joint action with ASEAN on Ukraine

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - Japan said Tuesday it intends to respond to the Ukraine crisis “in unity with” members of southeast Asian nations even as Tokyo continued to punish individuals from Russia and Belarus with sanctions.

“I told (Indonesian) President Joko (Widodo) that Japan intends to respond to the situation by acting in unity with ASEAN including Indonesia, which holds the presidency of the G20 this year,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, referring to the Southeast Asian regional bloc.

Indonesia is a member of the ASEAN as well as a group of top 20 economies.

Kishida said Japan and Indonesia “agreed to cooperate in our responses to the Ukraine situation, which concerns the foundation of the order of the international community including Asia.”

ASEAN released two statements concerning the Russian war against Ukraine and urged the two sides to engage in diplomacy and dialogue.

The bloc, currently chaired by Cambodia, also offered to facilitate engagement between Moscow and Kyiv.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi ruled out sending a special envoy to mediate.

“Japan aims to focus on cooperation with Europe and the US which seek to resolve the conflict through broader sanctions on Russia, rather than acting alone by sending a former prime minister like Shinzo Abe as a special envoy,” Hayashi told parliament.

Meanwhile, Tokyo accepted eight people from Ukraine whose relatives or acquaintances live in Japan. They have been granted short-term residency for 90 days.

- More Russians, Belarusians sanctioned

Japan’s top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno announced at a news conference that Tokyo will impose more sanctions on Russia and Belarus for Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.

Tokyo joined its western allies and has already sanctioned Russia’s president, foreign minister and several banks. Several automakers suspended operations in Russia and called home staff.

“As Russia escalates its attack on Ukraine with Belarus clearly involved, Japan will ban exports of oil refining equipment to Russia and dual-use products to Belarus,” said Matsuno, according to a report by Kyodo News.

The report said 32 Russian and Belarusian individuals “including government officials and business magnates, along with 12 entities including military-related companies, were added to the list of those facing asset freezes in Japan.”

“Tokyo also designated the Belarusian Defense Ministry and a Minsk-based military semiconductor maker as subject to sanctions, banning the receipt of payments from them by Japanese exporters from March 15,” it added.

Also, Japan's credit card giant, JCB Co., announced it will suspend operations in Russia beginning next Monday.

Russia's war on Ukraine has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

The West has also imposed biting export restrictions on key technologies that are now prohibited from being sent to Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures.

But the international body has maintained that conditions on the ground have made it "difficult to verify" the true number of casualties.

As many as 2 million people have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations held a third round of negotiations Monday in the Belarusian city of Brest, concluding with “small positive” developments regarding humanitarian corridors, according to an Ukrainian official.