The leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States indicated on Saturday night (26) they should expand sanctions against Russia.
The announcement was made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and reinforced through a joint statement by the White House.
In a document released by the White House, the countries announced that some banks in Russia should be removed from the SWIFT system – a system that allows Fast money transfer between countries,
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“This will ensure that these banks are cut off from the international financial system and undermine their ability to operate on a global scale,” the countries said.
With the SWIFT blockade, Russian banks would be barred from conducting most of their financial transactions, which would hurt Russian exports and imports.
The countries also announced that they would implement restrictive measures to prevent the Central Bank of Russia from using its international reserves “in a manner that minimizes the impact of our sanctions”.
The measures should be implemented in the coming days, according to the statement.
EU foreign ministers are due to discuss the sanctions package in a virtual meeting on Sunday evening.
