The European Union is discussing the disconnection of seven Russian banks from the SWIFT interbank payment system. The agency announced this on March 1 Bloomberg with reference to the draft proposal.
Banks that may be disconnected from the system include VTB, Rossiya, Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank and VEB.RF. It is noted that Sberbank and Gazprombank were not included in the list.
According to agency sources, the final list of banks to disconnect from SWIFT must be agreed with “other jurisdictions”, including the United States. It is noted that the list is still subject to change while consultations continue.
Earlier in the day, SWIFT announced that it would shut down affected organizations as soon as it was legally directed to do so.
The day before, the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said that bank cards of international payment systems continue to work in Russia as usual. According to her, the national system of payment cards processes all domestic traffic on payment cards. Nabiullina also spoke about the alternative to SWIFT in Russia. It can be a financial messaging system (SPFS).
A day earlier it became known that the European Union and the United States agreed to disconnect several Russian banks from SWIFT. In addition, the West may limit the ability of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to support the ruble through international financial transactions. The sanctions affected air travel, including transit flights, visa policy and sports.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. The situation in the region escalated on February 17, 2022. The DPR and LPR reported heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including from heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization, the evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia and asked for recognition of their independence.
The relevant decrees were signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21. In the presence of the leaders of the republics, the President of the Russian Federation also signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and assistance.
On February 24, the Russian Federation launched an operation to protect Donbass. After that, the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian Federation of hitting the country’s military infrastructure, introduced martial law throughout the country and severed diplomatic relations. Western countries began to introduce new anti-Russian sanctions.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
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