Asia-Pacific’s responses to the Ukrainian crisis: third-party alignment with sanctions on Russia

Abstract

Since 2014 and Russia's annexation of Crimea and the start of hostilities in Donbas, the West has shown unprecedented solidarity in imposing sanctions on Russia. Yet Asia-Pacific's response to the Ukraine crisis has been different. While Japan and New Zealand imposed symbolic sanctions, South Korea refrained from introducing any measures at all. The main objective of this paper is to explore the response of the Asia-Pacific region to the Ukraine crisis and the underlying motivations behind these stances. From a perspective of sanctions coordination and alliance behaviour theory, this paper examines the interaction between domestic and international factors when states decide whether or not to join international sanctions coalitions.

Beyond Militarisation: Japan’s Path to Civilian Power

“…This can also be seen in the Kishida administration’s introduction of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. Although these sanctions were not imposed on natural resources (oil and gas), it was a rather unusual action, as Japan’s sanctions regime has been rather passive in the past due to political concerns about backfire (Shagina, 2020). In addition, for the first time, Japan accepted more than 2,000 refugees from Ukraine, albeit as evacuees rather than refugees.…”