The United States, Canada and European allies are preparing to attack Russian financial institutions, including the central bank of that nation, with significant restrictions in what would be a significant escalation of their efforts to punish the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine, the allies said in a joint statement on Saturday night.
They promised to sanction Russia for the attack on Ukraine by isolating those banks from the SWIFT messaging system, a network that connects banks around the world and is considered the backbone of international finance, The Washington Post reported.
Isolating Russia from SWIFT would make it more difficult for Russian entities to process transactions and could hamper the ability of the Russian economy to do business beyond its borders.
There would be little precedent for such a move, particul against a country that has nuclear weapons, and some experts say the step could carry risks if Moscow feels its money is being withheld.
What is SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications?
It is a messaging network that connects banks around the world and is considered the backbone of international finance.
The Belgium-based consortium links more than 11,000 financial institutions that operate in more than 200 countries and territories, acting as a central hub for enabling international payments.
Last year , the system averaged 42 millions of messages per day, including orders and payment confirmations, transactions, and currency exchanges. More than 1% of those messages are believed to involve Russian payments.
Ukraine pays a high price for the Russian siege of Kiev and other cities
On Saturday, in Kiev, the Ukrainian forces, outgunned, they held on to their capital after resisting a nightly attack that included explosions and volleys of gunfire.
As the fighting receded into daylight hours, the city remained in government hands. Authorities extended the curfew from 5 pm to 8 am and air raid sirens could be heard as night fell on Saturday night.
Ukrainians who ventured out in the evening found a city transformed by war. There were sandbags in the streets, burned cars and lines at the weapons distribution sites. The subway has stopped working, its stations are now used only as underground bunkers.
Some more recent events of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine
– On Saturday morning, a high-rise apartment building near one of Kiev’s international airports was hit by a missile while air strikes continued. A residential building in Kiev was attacked on Friday morning.
– Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic closed your airspace to Russian airlines.
– The Prime Minister of Estonia asked all the countries of the European Union to do the same.
– The Minister of Health of Ukraine said that 198 Ukrainians have died in the fighting, with more than 1.04 wounded.
– There are already signs of a mass exodus: The United Nations said on Saturday that more than 150,000 Ukrainians have fled the country.
– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of himself at dawn on Saturday, apparently determined to stay in Kiev, even as Western officials warned Russia plans to capture or kill him .
You may be interested in:
– Russia and Ukraine : what is the SWIFT network and why is it considered a key weapon to pressure the Kremlin
– The 21 companies from the US, Europe and Japan doing business in Russia that would be affected after the sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine
– Russia invades Ukraine: the 3 main dangers for the world economy of the operation ordered by Putin