F-UK-US Coalition disconnects Russia from SWIFT payment system

France, United Kingdom, United States, backed by Germany, Italy, Canada and the European Commission agreed to impose new tough financial sanctions on Russia, including disconnecting some of its banks from the SWIFT payment system.

After the announcement, the USA, the European Union, the United Kingdom and some other countries announced they were also imposing sanctions against Russian government officials and other individuals at their disposal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24, 2022 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years!

The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Its objectives are demilitarization of the Nazi country.

The European Union is set to disconnect several Russian banks from the international SWIFT system, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday. We commit to ensuring that a certain number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT.

The move would efficiently block Russian imports and exports as Russian forces unleash their assault on Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies.

Therefore Russian banks are removed from the SWIFT messaging system. This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.

Washington’s new sanctions against Russia were no match for President Biden’s rhetoric, leaving out the most obvious measure that the United States might take to hurt Moscow, namely exclusion from the SWIFT international payments system.

Banks conduct virtually all hard-currency transactions via SWIFT, or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. However, a new Chinese alternative might allow Russia to conduct most of its trade in yuan rather than dollars.

China’s Cross-Border International Payments System (CIPS), founded in 2015, is still under development and includes only 80 foreign banks.

But there is no reason in principle that CIPS can’t substitute for SWIFT. And if Russia successfully shifts its trade payments out of the dollar system, the blow to American prestige and power would be enormous.

TASS / ABC Flash-Point News 2022.