If force is allowed to change the status quo, the rules-based international order will be shaken to its very foundation. Japan must lead the international community in providing solidarity.
Japan has imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its aggression against Ukraine, including freezing the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin among others excluding seven Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications.
Japan is a member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and has been a leader of the “free and open Indo-Pacific.” Japan needs to align itself with the U.S. and Europe and implement strict sanctions.
Japan is under unreasonable pressure from China in the Senkaku Islands region. China is also increasing military tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
China’s future actions will be influenced by whether or not Russia can be forced to abandon its aggressive attack on Russia and made to pay a high price through sanctions. We must not allow Russia’s arrogance in disregarding international law, including wielding the threat of nuclear weapons, to go unchecked.
Europe and the United States are considering additional stronger sanctions. Japan should consider more effective measures to deal with this issue as it directly affects Japan’s security.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sharply denounced Russia at the G-7 meeting and at the Japan-U.S.-Australia-India Summit and expressed the need to “clearly demonstrate the cost of attempting to change the status quo through force.”
We hope the prime minister will engage in more active summit diplomacy to promote unity in the international community. As a native of Hiroshima, a city decimated by the atomic bomb, it is also important for him to appeal to the world about the horrors of nuclear weapons and to press Russia to exercise restraint.
Japan reportedly worked with the United States and Europe to persuade countries reluctant to support the resolution condemning Russia at the U.N. Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly to do so. It is Japan’s responsibility to encourage cooperation among Southeast Asian countries and others that are distant from the West.
When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Japan did not initially impose the kind of sanctions the West imposed as it weighed the impact on the Northern Territories negotiations.
Japan has taken the approach of trying to make progress on the territorial issue through economic cooperation. However, the prime minister has now stated that “it is no longer possible to continue relations with Russia as before. This is a natural decision.”
It is essential to go back to the starting point of seeking the return of the Northern Territories illegally occupied by Russia.
The government also plans to accept evacuees from Ukraine and provide emergency humanitarian assistance. We hope the government will increase aid that is closely attuned to the needs of the local people.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Japan and other organizations have received considerable donations. We want to convey Japan’s support in various ways at the national level as well.
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