TOKYO -- Japan will block seven Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments system and freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday, in a coordinated move with other Western countries to put pressure on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine.
Kishida also said Japan will tighten exports to Russia of technology items such as semiconductors. Sanctions are also being imposed on Belarus and its president, Alexander Lukashenko.
