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US, allies target Russia with new sanctions, including SWIFT ban
The measures, which will include restrictions on the Russian central bank's international reserves, will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement that also vowed further action to come.
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The logo of Russia's state-owned bank Sberbank (reading "Sber") is seen on one of its offices in central Moscow on September 2, 2021. (AFP/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV )
T
he United States and its allies on Saturday moved to block certain Russian banks' access to the SWIFT international payment system in further punishment of Moscow as it continues its military assault against Ukraine.
The measures, which will include restrictions on the Russian central bank's international reserves, will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement that also vowed further action to come.
"We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin," the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Canada and the United States wrote.
"Even beyond the measures we are announcing today, we are prepared to take further measures to hold Russia to account for its attack on Ukraine."
The move comes after the United States and its allies slapped sanctions this week on major Russian banks as well as on President Vladimir Putin, among others, as Moscow's forces pushed into the heart of Ukraine toward Kyiv.
"As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing massive costs on Russia. Costs that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies," said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the European Union's executive.
The actions are aimed at preventing Putin from using $630 billion in central bank foreign currency reserves in the invasion of Ukraine and to defend a plunging rouble.
