Finance Minister Suzuki had not previously been subject to sanctions on the morning of the 3rd after the EU-European Union decided to keep seven Russian banks out of an international payment network called SWIFT. It has also announced that it will freeze assets for four Russian banks.
The EU announced on the 2nd that it will shut out seven banks from SWIFT, an international payment network in which financial institutions from all over the world participate, including VTB Bank, which is the second largest bank in Russia, from the 12th of this month.
In response, Minister of Finance Suzuki told reporters on the morning of the 3rd, "We support the decision as Japan has participated in this initiative. We have already decided to freeze assets in order to firmly implement this measure together with other G7 countries. We have decided to take asset freeze measures against four new Russian banks in addition to the three banks we have. "
Specifically, the Japanese government has decided to freeze assets in Japan against four Russian banks such as VTB Bank, which had not been subject to sanctions, and seven banks will be excluded from SWIFT. All are subject to asset freeze.
The Government of Japan aims to prevent the flow of funds into Russia through these banks and enhance the effectiveness of a series of sanctions by increasing the number of sanctions in line with EU measures.