Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other Group of Seven leaders adopted a set of additional sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine at an online G-7 summit to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the invasion.
The leaders renewed their commitment to “intensifying our diplomatic, financial and military support for Ukraine, to increasing the costs to Russia and those supporting its war effort,” and countering the negative impact on the rest of the world, especially the most vulnerable people, they said in a statement, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
The G-7 countries also affirmed their coordinated action to “further counter Russia’s capacity to wage its illegal aggression” and pledged to prevent Russia from obtaining military equipment and technology. They also called on other countries to stop providing military support to Russia.
Kishida, as this year’s G-7 president, also announced Japan will impose additional sanctions on Russia, including freezing the assets of some 120 individuals and organizations and banning the export of drones and other materials that can be used for military purposes. “G-7 serves the core of the international commitment to do so,” he said
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said that there is no evidence that China would side with Russia in its war against Ukraine. Biden said that he had a long conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about this in the summer. “There’s no evidence of that so far,” Biden told reporters on Friday when asked if he is worried that China will side with Russia in the ongoing war.