Germany and Western allies officially agrees to cut Russia from SWIFT

[Debithius 6,056]

Russia could be a step closer to being expelled from the global banking system Swift as more EU countries said they favored its ejection. 

The service links more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories. It also hosted 42 million messages a day on average in 2021, according to Bloomberg. 

Despite initial opposition, some countries have begun to change their views on opposing Russia's removal from Swift.

For example, Germany's foreign minister said earlier on Friday she did not believe a ban was the best course of action, per Reuters. But the news agency suggested that Germany had softened its stance later on Friday, noting that finance minister Christian Lindner said: "We are open, but you have to know what you're doing."

As well as Germany, the countries seemingly encouraging the Swift ban include Italy, Cyprus, and Hungary.

Successfully barring Moscow from the Swift system would require agreement among the 27 EU countries.

In tweets on Saturday, Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, discussed EU countries' support for a Swift ban for Russia.

He highlighted Italy's support, saying: "Call with my Italian counterpart @luigidimaio. Full solidarity with Ukraine. My colleague assured me that Italy will support banning Russia from SWIFT." 

Enrico Letta, ex-prime minister of Italy, also confirmed the news in a tweet. 

This was followed by a tweet stating Cyprus' position. Kuleba said: "We did it. Cyprus confirmed it will not block the decision to ban Russia from SWIFT." 

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Tldr: all of EU is more or less on board on banning Russia from using SWIFT, one of the most severe sanctions Russia could face. Only country to ever face this punishment is Iran in 2012. Hungary, Cyprus, Italy and Germany were amongst the last countries to make a decision. Much more info available in the article below.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/russia-close-swift-ban-more-eu-countries-support-ejection-2022-2%3famp

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Edit: Key Russian banks are now cut from SWIFT. This is huge, more information about this in the article down below.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/germany-western-allies-agree-cutting-220639481.html

[littlepotter 76,610]

This could either work or make Putin double down

[Lucas 31,097]

What would be the negative impact of it on Russia?

[Horny Chicken 10,932]

12 minutes ago, littlepotter said:

This could either work or make Putin double down

Hopefully it encourages more Russian citizens to protest for change. Right now only young people with social media are against this war. The older generation who consume state controlled media mostly support Putin. 
 

 I don’t want to go to war and neither do those young Russian soldiers. From the looks of it (and some reports), many of them have no idea why they’re even invading Ukraine. 

[Angemon 489]

6 minutes ago, Lucas said:

What would be the negative impact of it on Russia?

Any Russian would be excluded from the payment system. They could no longer withdraw money or pay with credit card

[Lucas 31,097]

Just now, Lady Gaga said:

Any Russian would be excluded from the payment system. They could no longer withdraw money or pay with credit card

Oh thanks! Although I don't think punishing EVERYONE is the best solution, maybe it could make some people rethink their decision...

[ThisGuyTony 34,847]

They better hurry up and do it.

Every country is like this right now:

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, Lucas said:

What would be the negative impact of it on Russia?

I think the biggest arguing point for this decision is its impact on other countries. Russia is a trade source for gas to some countries and with being removed from SWIFT, it would make those trade deals much more difficult to facilitate.

[Chic 20,830]

16 minutes ago, Lucas said:

Oh thanks! Although I don't think punishing EVERYONE is the best solution, maybe it could make some people rethink their decision...

I think they plan for it to be short term to push Russia to remove Putin from power. Or it could backfire and cause Putin to take more control quicker. It’s a tough situation.

[Fresco 1,688]

Putin has decided he likes crypto currency now. 

Europe has reason to be worried, with Putin's threats against various countries for various reasons. 

"When you attack us you will see our faces not our backs." Ukrainian President Zelensky

[Mother of Puppies 36,615]

58 minutes ago, iku iku iku said:

 I don’t want to go to war and neither do those young Russian soldiers. From the looks of it (and some reports), many of them have no idea why they’re even invading Ukraine.

what about those d***heads who ran over a car with that poor old man inside?

[Mother of Puppies 36,615]

They were all waiting and hesitating because they know more than us and they wanted to avoid what Putin has said when he threatened all of us...

 

This will probably escalate now and I wouldn't be surprised if Putin decides to use nuclear weapons. I think nobody knows what he's capable of and nobody knows what will happen. We had no clue how bad this pandemic would become and look where we are now. It will never go away.

 

edit: sry this sounds really pessimistic but I'm just anxious tbh

[Magic Mike 2,763]

Russia would see the exclusion as a declaration of war by the West - https://russiabusinesstoday.com/economy/russia-would-consider-cutting-off-from-swift-as-act-of-war-medvedev/

[dit 46,738]

should already be removed. I mean the US and the world removed Iran for far less than what Russia is doing right now. Yes it will hurt us as well but it will hurt Russia even more and that will quickly bring it to the negotiation table. 

[Mother of Puppies 36,615]

9 minutes ago, Magic Mike said:

Russia would see the exclusion as a declaration of war by the West - https://russiabusinesstoday.com/economy/russia-would-consider-cutting-off-from-swift-as-act-of-war-medvedev/

well... this is the reason why some countries were hesitating