Japan's new anti-Russian sanctions will have diplomatic and economic consequences for relations between the two countries, and Moscow will be guided primarily by its own interests in developing response steps, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“Consequences for bilateral relations, which are already in a very sad state, unfortunately, are inevitable from such decisions,” he stated.

“We are increasingly adapting to life under these sanctions, elements of compensatory measures are being included for both the economy and social aspects.

Therefore, such decisions do not bring us anything new," the Kremlin spokesman said.

On Friday, January 27, Japan announced the introduction of new restrictions against Moscow.

As part of the new package of restrictions, Tokyo, in particular, expanded the lists of Russian individuals and legal entities whose assets should be blocked.

“Measures to freeze assets ... will come into force against individuals and legal entities of the Russian Federation (22 individuals and three legal entities), individuals who are considered directly involved in the “annexation” of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol or the destabilization of the eastern part of Ukraine, as well as individuals from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, who are considered directly involved in the so-called annexation carried out by Russia (14 individuals),” the website of the Japanese Foreign Ministry says.

These lists included First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuichenko, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Mizintsev, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Russia Ella Pamfilova, philosopher Alexander Dugin and a number of other citizens.

Among Russian companies, the Irkut corporation, the Avangard machine-building plant and KamAZ PJSC fell under the new sanctions.

In addition, Tokyo imposed a ban on the export of general goods and goods related to the strengthening of military potential in relation to 49 Russian legal entities.

The ban affected, in particular, the Zvyozdochka ship repair center, the Moscow Aviation Institute, the Tula Arms Plant, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, the Research Center “Institute.

NOT.

Zhukovsky", Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after P.I.

Baranov, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and the Aviaagregat enterprise.

In turn, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan announced a ban on the export to Russia of radioactive materials, robots, vaccines and medical products, immunotoxins, as well as raw materials for military bacterial substances.

Sanctions and peace treaty

According to the head of the Department of Diplomacy at MGIMO Alexander Panov, Tokyo decided to expand the list of restrictions in order to demonstrate its activity in countering the Russian Federation.

“This is a purely political issue.

At the moment, it is Japan that is the country that chairs the G7.

And Japanese politicians, with the help of sanctions, decided to mark themselves, to contribute to the fight against Russia, ”the analyst emphasized in an interview with RT.

  • Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

  • AP

  • © Jose Luis Magana

At the same time, the expert drew attention to the inconsistency of Tokyo's position.

On January 23, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that his government allegedly adheres to a policy aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Moscow, but a few days later new sanctions against the Russian Federation were announced.

“These two steps of Japan contradict each other: sanctions and a peace treaty are incompatible on the same agenda.

Statements about a peace treaty with the Russian Federation are aimed exclusively at an internal audience: Japanese politicians need to show the population that the government has not forgotten about this.

However, the treaty itself does not bother Tokyo at all.

There is no sense in these statements,” Panov stressed.

According to analysts, the Russian leadership also believes that peace talks and Tokyo's anti-Russian stance are incompatible.

This, in particular, was pointed out by Dmitry Peskov.

According to him, there are currently no prospects for a dialogue on a peace treaty, since Tokyo has joined the camp of states unfriendly to the Russian Federation.

"Inefficiency and absurdity"

It is worth noting that on January 26, the United States also imposed new anti-Russian sanctions.

The main attention in the next package of restrictions was given to PMC "Wagner", which Washington included in the list of "major transnational criminal organizations."

“The United States is imposing sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group and its head Yevgeny Prigozhin, including its key infrastructure and associated front companies, its military operations in Ukraine, Russian arms manufacturers,” reads the State Department website.

  • US State Department

  • AFP

  • © Daniel Slim

In addition, sanctions were imposed on three heads of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, as well as several legal entities associated with businessman Vladimir Potanin.

In addition, the State Department imposed restrictions against the Far East Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center, and also imposed visa restrictions on 531 Russian servicemen "for actions that threaten or violate the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine."

The Russian embassy in the United States called Washington's new sanctions absurd and ineffective.

“The Americans continue to “click” with their illegitimate sanctions threats... At the same time, with each new wave of economic barriers, the inefficiency and absurdity of such an approach become more obvious.

Russia is successfully resisting attempts to impose a line of behavior pleasing to the United States.

“Strength checks” are not new to us, ”the statement posted on the diplomatic mission’s Telegram channel says.

In addition, Russian diplomats stressed that foreign entrepreneurs and commercial companies are the first to suffer from the constant expansion of restrictive measures.

“Their opportunities to continue mutually beneficial cooperation with Russian partners are constantly shrinking.

Our market, despite the sanctions, remains attractive, including for foreign investors.

It is adapting to new conditions,” the Russian embassy noted.

— Russia has been and remains open to establishing business contacts.

But only on the basis of an honest approach, subject to market, competitive conditions for doing business.”

Sanctions war

The Russian leadership has repeatedly stressed that the numerous restrictions imposed by Western countries have not achieved their goals.

Vladimir Putin also pointed this out in his New Year's address.

“Since 2014, after the Crimean events, Russia has been living under sanctions, but this year we have been declared a real sanctions war.

Those who started it expected the complete destruction of our industry, finances, and transport.

This did not happen, because together we created a reliable margin of safety.

What we have done and are doing in this area is all aimed at strengthening our sovereignty in the most important area - in the economy," the head of state stressed.

However, according to experts, despite the absence of the desired result, the United States and its allies will continue to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation.

According to HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev, such restrictions now have more political than practical meaning.

“Sanctions are a demonstration of a political movement towards increasing pressure on Russia.

Because it is now important for America to demonstrate unity to the EU and its other partners on this issue, since, for example, the Europeans have fears that Washington may come to an agreement with the Russian Federation and China behind their backs, ”the political scientist said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, experts note that Western restrictions also benefit Russia, as they motivate the Russian Federation to reduce the dependence of its own economy on the West.

“Thanks to the sanctions, the economy of our country is becoming more and more independent.

Sanctions are the most important element of socio-economic modernization and overcoming vulnerabilities in the economy that have developed due to excessive dependence on European markets.

It is necessary not to wait for the end of sanctions, but to form a system in which they will not matter.

Therefore, the cessation of sanctions pressure on Russia is simply unprofitable for us, ”concluded Evstafiev.