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Finance

Japan, Australia, Canada impose sanctions against Russia

25 February 2022 11:26 (UTC +04:00)

Countries across Asia have intensified sanctions against Russia in response to its full-scale assault on Ukraine, APA reports citing Ceylontoday.

Australia's PM Scott Morrison said on Friday they would widen sanctions against Russia, targeting several of its elite citizens and lawmakers.

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said they would shore up sanctions against Russia in three areas, including military equipment exports.

Japan will also freeze the assets of several Russian banks, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said.

Taiwan said on Friday the island would join democratic countries to slap sanctions on Russia, without giving details.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today condemned Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified attack” and announced fresh sanctions on 62 Russian entities and individuals, including banks and the country’s "elite".

Along with allies like the US, Canada imposed a first round of economic sanctions on Russia on Tuesday. It also deployed up to 460 Canadian military members to the Nato mission in eastern Europe.

While Trudeau said on Thursday Canada would respond "forcefully" to Russia's aggression, he did not say whether Canada was considering deploying troops directly to Ukraine.

Canada has one of the world's largest populations of Ukrainian immigrants.

At the same briefing, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland - who is Ukrainian-Canadian - spoke to the diaspora.

"To my own Ukrainian-Canadian community, let me say this: now is the time for us to be strong as we support our friends and family in Ukraine," she said, before speaking in Ukrainian.

The new package of sanctions include export controls on high-tech products such as semiconductors, a freeze on assets held by Russian banks, and a suspension of visa issuance for certain Russian individuals and entities, say Kyodo Agency.