European Commission: certain number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT. „We will paralyse the assets of Russia’s central bank. This will freeze its transactions.”

In coordination with President Biden, President Macron, Bundeskanzler Scholz, Prime Minister Draghi, Prime Minister Trudeau, and Prime Minister Johnson, European Commission considered „a significant tightening of our international response”.

„The European Union and its partners are working to cripple Putin’s ability to finance his war machine,” said Ursula von de Leyen, the EC president in a statement on further measures to react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking of the new international response, the EC president proposes to EU leaders the following measures:

„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.

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.

All of these measures will significantly harm Putin’s ability to finance his war. They will have an eroding impact on the economy.”

More details here: White House – Joint Statement on Further Restrictive Economic Measures