European Commission President: Cutting Russian banks off from SWIFT will effectively block Russia's exports and imports

A number of Russian banks will be cut off from SWIFT international payment system, which will stop most financial transactions around the world and effectively block Russia's exports and imports.

“Russian army is committing barbaric actions during its invasion of Ukraine. It is bombing and launching missile strikes, killing innocent people. At the same time, the entire world is witnessing the determined and brave resistance by the Ukrainian army and population. As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies,” reads the statement by European Commission President von der Leyen.

She noted that the EU considered a significant tightening of international response in coordination with President Biden, President Macron, Bundeskanzler Scholz, Prime Minister Draghi, Prime Minister Trudeau, and Prime Minister Johnson. The European Union and its partners are working to cripple Putin's ability to finance his war machine.

“First, we commit to ensuring that a certain number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT. This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally. SWIFT is the world's dominant global interbank payment system. Cutting banks off will stop them from conducting most of their financial transactions worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports,” von der Leyen said.

In addition, the assets of the Russian Central Bank will be paralysed, and Russian oligarchs will be impacted.

“Second, we will stop Putin from using his war chest. We will paralyse the assets of Russia's central bank. This will freeze its transactions. And it will make it impossible for the Central Bank to liquidate its assets. And finally, we will work to prohibit Russian oligarchs from using their financial assets on our markets,” the EU official said.

As Ukrinform reported, the European Commission also stated that restrictive measures would be introduced in the near future to prevent the Central Bank of Russia from using its international reserves to reduce the effect of international sanctions.

The assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation now total $ 643 billion. All of them will be frozen.

Leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Canada and the United States condemned Russia's war against Ukraine and said they were ready to impose additional restrictions on Russia, including cutting its banks off from SWIFT.

Russian president Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine on February 24 and launched a large-scale invasion.

Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure for four days already, while missiles have been hitting residential buildings.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced.

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