Japan will freeze the assets of four more Russian banks, bringing the total number of banks subject to such sanctions by Tokyo to seven, said Minister of Finance Shun'ichi Suzuki, Reuters reported.

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida approved the decision to freeze the assets of VTB Bank, Sovcombank, Novikombank and Otkritie, the Finance Ministry document says. The freezing of bank assets will come into force on 2 April.

The assets freeze also targets dozens of people, including Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus.

Japan will firmly implement sanctions along with other members of the G7, Suzuki said.

The decision was made after the government announced the freezing of assets of the Russian state-owned Promsvyazbank and Vnesheconombank, as well as the Central Bank of Russia.