TOKYO, Mar 16Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida intends to deprive Russia of the status of the most favored nation in trade, NHK TV channel reported, citing sources. An official decision could be made as early as Wednesday. The decision will be made in accordance with the similar position of the G7 countries. Japan has imposed several packages of sanctions against Russia, the last of which was announced on Tuesday. We are talking about a ban on the export of 218 products from March 18, including semiconductors, radars, sensors, lasers, communications equipment, recording devices and their components, oscilloscopes, spectrometers, signal amplifiers, signal generators, resistors, cryptographic equipment, television cameras, optical filters, fluoride fiber and more. In addition, it is forbidden to export parachutes, sensors, products for oil refining, as well as products intended for the chemical industry and nuclear energy. The ban also includes military goods: body armor, weapons, explosives, ships, diesel engines, components for missiles, and so on. Prior to this, a ban was imposed on the export of 57 items of goods, 31 of which are general goods, and another 26 – technological elements, including software. In addition, Japan has imposed personal sanctions against a number of Russian officials and entrepreneurs.Japan has expanded the ban on exports to RussiaExport sanctions are imposed on 49 companies and organizations, including the FSB, the GRU, Sukhoi Company JSC, RAC MiG JSC, Rostec State Corporation and others. The sanctions list includes the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, VEB, Rossiya Bank and Promsvyazbank. It also became known that the assets of VTB, Otkritie Bank, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank and Sovcombank will be frozen. Sanctions were previously announced against Rossiya Bank and representatives of the leadership of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the Russian President emphasized.
