As the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine persist, Japan has announced a total ban on Russian coal imports.
This was disclosed on Friday by the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida at a news conference in Tokyo, in which he also announced the expulsion of eight Russian diplomats.
Kishida stressed that Russia is guilty of unforgivable war crimes in Ukraine since the war between both neighbouring countries started in February this year.
“Russia has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law by killing civilians and attacking nuclear power plants. These are unforgivable war crimes,” Kishida told reporters, according to the BBC.
“Japan stands together with Ukraine,” Kishida added.
Japan is the world’s third-largest importer of coal after India and China, while Russia accounts for 11 percent of Japan’s coal imports.
The ban on Russia is coming the same day the Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kramatorsk train station killed dozens of civilians, including children.