Japan on Friday announced an expanded list of sanctions against Russia that includes an export ban on hybrid and electric vehicles.
Tokyo has already frozen the assets of Russian individuals and groups and banned the export of goods to Russia’s military-related organizations, as well as the export of construction and engineering services.
On Friday, the government expanded the list of goods under its export ban to include vehicles fitted with engines exceeding 1,900 cubic centimeters in capacity, as well as hybrid and electric cars, the Japanese trade ministry said in a statement.
The new sanctions, approved by the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday, will take effect on Aug. 9.
“As it’s been more than a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, we have been expanding the list of items” under the export ban, ministry official Noriyuki Kuroda told reporters.
The latest sanctions follow similar embargoes announced by the United States and EU, Kuroda said.
Other items added to the export ban list include steel, plastic products, and electronic parts “that can be diverted to military use,” he added.
At the Group of Seven summit in Japan in May, the bloc’s leaders agreed to “starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine”.
The U.S., Britain and EU have levied crushing sanctions against Moscow over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as committed more military aid to Kyiv.
