Japan to impose sanctions on Belarus this week

The Japanese government will impose sanctions on Belarus this week for its role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

That's according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Ukrinform reports citing Kyodo News.

"Given Belarus' obvious involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we have decided to take sanction measures against individuals including President (Alexander) Lukashenko as well as entities, and implement export control measures. […]These should be carried out as early as within this week," Kishida said in parliament.

Japan, as the only country to have been subjected to atomic bombings, also emphasizes that nuclear weapons should never be used, amid fears that Russia could use them during the invasion of Ukraine.

According to Kishida, the Japanese government plans to promote international calls for Russia to exercise restraint after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered to bring the country's deterrent forces to a state of heightened alert.

Japan earlier supported the decision by Western countries to block Russian banks from accessing the SWIFT payment system.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops are shelling and destroying key infrastructure, conducting massive shelling of residential areas of Ukrainian cities and towns using artillery, multiple launch rocket launchers and ballistic missiles.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced.

Ukraine officially filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.