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Singapore's sanctions on Russia should not be seen as "anti-Russian", retired diplomat Bilahari Kausikan said in a Facebook post on Feb. 28.

Instead, the former ambassador to Russia described it as "support for international law".

Bilahari was responding to Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's ministerial statement in Parliament, which was delivered on Feb. 28.

He wrote his opinion on his Facebook page on the same day, saying that he hopes his Russian friends would understand the move.

In a reply to a commenter on his post, Bilahari also clarified that while Singapore's move is not "anti-Russian", it is "anti-Putin".

Singapore to impose export controls on Russia, limit financial transactions

In his ministerial statement, Vivian said that Singapore will impose export controls on Russia and limit certain financial transactions connected to Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Singapore will also block certain Russian banks and financial transactions connected to Russia, with specific measures to be worked out and announced in more detail at a later date.

Vivian warned that these measures would come at some cost and implications on Singapore, its businesses and the public.

Nevertheless, this step is necessary for Singapore to take as the country has to "stand up for principles that are the very foundation for the independence and sovereignty of smaller nations", he added.

Sanctions were "unprecedented"

In his Facebook post, Bilahari described the statement as "excellent" as it clearly laid out Singapore's interests and what was at stake following the invasion.

He added that Singapore's move was "unprecedented", and explained further that Singapore only typically imposes sanctions endorsed by the United Nations (UN) Security Council, whose decisions are legally binding on all UN members.

"But given the Russian veto, UN Security Council sanctions will obviously never be passed," Bilahari said.

He further shared that the only other time when Singapore imposed unilateral sanctions was 44 years ago in 1978, after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia.

The issue back then was the same, he wrote, which was the invasion of a sovereign state in gross violation of the UN Charter and international law.

Singaporeans "can be proud" of the move

Commenting on Singapore's sanctions on Russia, Bilahari opined that "exceptional situations call for exceptional responses".

"We cannot just do what we are accustomed to doing," he wrote.

He viewed the sanctions as "the right thing to do", and said Singaporeans can be proud that the government had done the right thing.

In addition to that, he said that Singaporeans should support the government in this move, regardless of their political views.

Bilahari also agreed with former U.S. national security adviser Henry Kissinger, whom he referred to as the "architect of detente with the Soviet Union during the Cold War". Kissinger had previously said that Russians "cannot look on Ukraine as a foreign country" after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"All the more reason therefore for the Kremlin to seek a quick, just and peaceful resolution to this tragic and fratricidal war," he concluded.

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