Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, just announced† EU member states want to hit Russia in its ‘war chest’, von der Leyen said. The disconnection of Russian banks from the crucial message service for payment traffic is considered a severe punitive measure.
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The measure affects ‘selected Russian banks’, says von der Leyen. Swift’s exclusion “will cause them to lose access to the global financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.”
Happened once before
It has only happened once that a country has been cut off from Swift. Iran was then hit hard.
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The Russian central bank can also expect measures, says von der Leyen, partly on behalf of EU heavyweights France, Germany and Italy and the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Western countries want to prevent it from ‘using its international reserves to undermine the impact of our sanctions’.
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In her speech, von der Leyen also praised the “determined and courageous” Ukrainian people who resist the Russians. She says the whole world is currently witnessing “barbaric actions” by Russian troops just a few dozen kilometers from Europe’s eastern border.
Ukraine grateful
Ukraine is grateful for the new round of financial sanctions, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said last night. “Thanks to our friends for the commitment to remove several Russian banks from SWIFT,” writes the Prime Minister. He also thanks for “the paralysis of the assets of the central bank of Russia.”
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US response: disarm Russia
The United States and its allies are “disarming Fortress Russia” with the new sanctions, a senior Biden administration official said.
The moves are designed to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from using $630 billion in central bank reserves to finance the invasion of Ukraine and support the declining ruble. “Putin’s government is being expelled from the international financial system,” the official confirmed.
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