Blocking Moscow from the system requires unanimity among the 27 countries of the European Union. The pressures for a joint decision are mounting, also in light of the fact that the sanctions enacted to date have not dissuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin from continuing his aggressive actions against Ukraine.
Moscow threatens to nationalize Western properties
The Swift interbank network allows the exchange of information for the management of financial transactions between over 11 thousand institutions and companies, and is essential for accessing the global financial system.
Putin and Russia are aware of this, so much so that they have already taken a counterattack by threatening, in the event of the expulsion of Russian banks from the Swift system, to “nationalize the properties present in Russia attributable to persons registered in the US, the EU and other jurisdictions , including countries of the Anglo-Saxon world ».
England is also in favor
The explicit reference to England is no accident. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined the call today to stop Russian participation in Swift. In a tweet Johnson wrote: “We call for an end to Russian involvement in Swift.”
Position in tune with that recorded on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The Biden administration and the Fed say they are in contact to discuss the possible expulsion of Russia from Swift and its effects on the American economy, after yesterday the United States decided to join the European Union and freeze Putin’s assets , Lavrov and other Russian oligarchs.