By
Chimamanda U. Martha
November 23rd, 2023
The isolation of the Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system is one of the five proactive measures the European Commission announced against Russia.
The European Commission has joined the list of organizations across the world condemning the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, over his invasion order against Ukraine. Already, the US has placed sanctions on Russia, preventing the country from accessing foreign capital. In a bid to address Putin’s behavior against Russia, the European Commission has also removed banks in Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). This came as a form of sanction to prevent Russia from carrying out cross-border payments.
On the 26th of February, the European Commission issued a report to express their displeasure with the president of Russia. The Commission consists of leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the US, and the UK. The Commission declared its support for Ukraine and commended the country’s “heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion.”
The leaders said they would ensure that the war is a “strategic failure for Putin.”
The isolation of the Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system is one of the five proactive measures the European Commission announced against Russia. The European Commission said it would ensure the isolation of a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system. As such, the financial institutions will not be able to operate internationally.
However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba Sunday criticized the move by western countries that allows Russian energy transactions on the SWIFT banking system. He said some countries are leaving loopholes in the SWIFT sanctions. He revealed that such countries are excluding some banks so that they could continue to trade with them. Kuleba cried out, saying, “stop doing this now. Stop trading with the blood of Ukrainian men, women, and children.”
EU Commission to Undertake Certain Measures Against Russia
Additionally, the Commission mentioned preventing the Russian Central Bank from using international reserves to lessen the impact of the sanctions. The Commission further stated in the report:
“Specifically, we commit to taking measures to limit the sale of citizenship- so called golden passports- that let wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government become citizens of our countries and gain access to our financial systems.”
The Commission will also roll out a “transatlantic task force” to ensure the implementation of its financial sanctions on Russia. According to the organization. The task force will see to the identifying and freezing of assets of individuals and organizations sanctioned within its jurisdictions. Additionally, the leader promised to scale up its coordination over “disinformation and other forms of hybrid warfare.”
“We stand with the Ukrainian people in this dark hour. 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,” wrote the European Commission.