The United States is ready to impose a new package of sanctions against Russia in the event of its invasion of Ukraine. This was announced by the American television channel CNN, citing sources. As a last resort, the journalists’ interlocutors called the disconnection of Russia from the international payment system SWIFT. The main targets of the new restrictions will be members of the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian oligarchs. In addition, the US authorities are considering restrictions against the Russian national debt.
Russian businessmen and members of the close circle of the president intend to limit the ability to travel and cut off access to American banks and credit card systems. In addition to personal sanctions, there are also restrictions against the Russian energy sector, but no details were provided in this area.
“We believe we have a path that will include significant economic countermeasures from both Europe and the United States, which would include significant, severe economic harm to the Russian economy,” – stated representative of the American administration. Sources to CNN said that a final decision on whether the new sanctions will be applied has not yet been made. According to sources, the administration of US President Joe Biden is currently in talks with European countries to coordinate actions. Earlier, Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have already announced the possibility of sanctions against Russia.
The Kremlin called the information that appeared in the media as a continuation of the information hysteria. “Rather, this is not news, but a continuation of the information hysteria that we are witnessing in the media these days,” said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov in response to a question from journalists whether these messages could affect Putin’s talks with the American president on December 7.
First Deputy Head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov also skeptical regarding the threats of the American authorities and considers the disconnection of Russia from the SWIFT system an unlikely scenario.
Dzhabarov also commented on possible sanctions against “Putin’s inner circle” – in his opinion, since 2014, a large number of Russian tycoons have faced restrictive measures and now “it is easier to count on one hand the people they have not awarded sanctions.”
Pavel Shust, Executive Director of the Association of Electronic Money and Money Transfer Market Participants named the threat of disconnecting Russia from SWIFT rhetorically by the United States and noted that such a step would be disadvantageous to everyone. “The clause on disconnecting from SWIFT is included in almost all projects on sanctions, but it is always excluded during the discussion. For the most part, they are a rhetorical device, ”said the expert. At the same time, Shust stressed that a sanction of this kind would become a “point of no return” and would indeed painfully affect the Russian economy and its relations with major trading partners.
For closeness to the Russian leadership, sanctions have already been imposed on several occasions. Entrepreneurs Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, co-owner of Novatek gas company and Sibur petrochemical company Gennady Timchenko, co-owner of Rossiya bank Nikolay Shamalov, former head of the merged company Rusal and En + Group Oleg Deripaska and many other wealthy businessmen of the country were subject to restrictions.
In addition, US sanctions on Russian sovereign debt came into effect on June 14. The restrictions imply that US financial institutions are now barred from participating in the primary market for ruble or non-ruble bonds issued after that date by the central bank, the National Wealth Fund, or the Russian Treasury. In September, the US House of Representatives approved a regulation expanding the ban on the purchase or sale by Americans of newly issued sovereign debt obligations of Russia – it was proposed to extend it to secondary markets. The purpose of the new restrictions was then called “to punish Moscow” for interfering in the US elections.
Threats to disconnect Russia from SWIFT have also been made repeatedly. At the end of April, the European Parliament introduced in its resolution a proposal to disconnect Russia from the system of international payments SWIFT in the event that Moscow “continues its aggression in Ukraine.” However, in the summer, Roman Chernov, executive director of the Russian National Association of SWIFT (Rosswift), rejected this opportunity. “They are not going to disconnect us from SWIFT. It’s very simple – it’s not beneficial to anyone, ”he said. In addition, Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, later admitted that this is not within the EU’s purview.
#United #States #threatened #disconnect #Russia #SWIFT #hit #oligarchs