Moscow disappointed by new Japanese sanctions: FM

MOSCOW - Russia said Wednesday the new batch of sanctions imposed on Moscow by Japan was disappointing and proved Tokyo's inability to formulate independent foreign policy.

"The decision of the Japanese government looks illogical in the light of the particular agreements reached by the Contact Group in Minsk on Sept 5 and 19 about ceasefire in Ukraine's south-east," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on the day, Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the latest sanctions included a ban on some Russian banks from issuing securities in Japan and more restrictions on arms exports to Russia.

Moscow considers Tokyo's renewed unfriendly step as a new evidence of Japanese inability to conduct its own foreign policy, it said.

Unilateral sanctions, Moscow said, were illegitimate, pointless and only resulted in more international tensions.

The ministry also wondered how Tokyo is going to deepen its dialogue with Moscow under the given circumstances.

On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Russian President Vladimir Putin that they would hold talks on sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to be held in Beijing in November on bilateral ties.

"Imposing anti-Russian sanction under the outside pressure, Tokyo harms its own geopolitical positions in the first hand and send wrong message to Japanese business community," Moscow said.

The fresh Japanese sanctions came as Russia's presidential administration chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, toured Wednesday on one of the South Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the Northern Terrortories.

Noting Russia has been undertaking a 720-million-US dollar development program on the islands, Ivanov said the government will allocate some 1.6 billion dollars to further develop the disputed islands from 2016 to 2025.

Japan, which has joined hands with the United States and some European countries, has already imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its alleged destabilizing role in the Ukraine crisis, including freezing assets held in Japan by 40 individuals and two groups involved in Russia's move on Crimea.

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