U.S. And Allies Begin Cutting Russia Out Of International Financial System SWIFT

[peppertree]

Source: Huffington Post

The United States and the richest countries in Europe will cut Russian banks out of the global financial messaging system SWIFT and begin trying to cut off Russia's central bank, according to a White House statement on Saturday.

The move is the most drastic financial sanction yet on Russian President Vladimir Putin over his brutal, ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/swift-banking-sanctions-russia-ukraine-invasion_n_621aa4aee4b0afc668c15b94

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[PortTack]

1. This is really good news!

[Obvious85]

22. The Ruble will have less value than Monopoly money

Russian citizens will unite and take their own country back, not Ukraine's country

[SheltieLover]

2. Great news!!!

[Evolve Dammit]

3. Good. Make them pay and hurt for this invasion of a peaceful democracy in every way possible.

[riversedge]

4. ENGAGE!!

[AntiFascist]

5. Please, no carve-outs for luxury goods!

The customers of luxury products are typically high up in the oligarchic pyramid, and these are precisely the ones who need to feel the pain.

[AlexSFCA]

6. YES!

carve out or alternative route for germany just to maintain gas/oil for now should be possible.

[dalton99a]

7. Kick

We, the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States condemn Putin's war of choice and attacks on the sovereign nation and people of Ukraine. We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia's invasion. Russia's war represents an assault on fundamental international rules and norms that have prevailed since the Second World War, which we are committed to defending. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.

This past week, alongside our diplomatic efforts and collective work to defend our own borders and to assist the Ukrainian government and people in their fight, we, as well as our other allies and partners around the world, imposed severe measures on key Russian institutions and banks, and on the architects of this war, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies. We will implement these measures within the coming days.

Specifically, we commit to undertake the following measures:

First, we commit to ensuring that selected Russian banks are removed from the SWIFT messaging system. This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.

Second, we commit to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.

Third, we commit to acting against the people and entities who facilitate the war in Ukraine and the harmful activities of the Russian government. 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.

Fourth, we commit to launching this coming week a transatlantic task force that will ensure the effective implementation of our financial sanctions by identifying and freezing the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies that exist within our jurisdictions. As a part of this effort we are committed to employing sanctions and other financial and enforcement measures on additional Russian officials and elites close to the Russian government, as well as their families, and their enablers to identify and freeze the assets they hold in our jurisdictions. We will also engage other governments and work to detect and disrupt the movement of ill-gotten gains, and to deny these individuals the ability to hide their assets in jurisdictions across the world.

Finally, we will step up or coordination against 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.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/en/statement_22_1423/STATEMENT_22_1423_EN.pdf

[MarineCombatEngineer]

11. Great statement!!!!

The only thing I would've changed is to hammer home the point that this is Putin's war, not Russia's war, lay it all on Putin and his enablers, not the whole of Russia, re-affirm that the people of Russia are just as much victims of Putin's tyranny as are Ukrainians.

[PaulnFortWorth]

34. Putin Needs to PRODUCE!

Both a military success as well as financial gain. If the oligarchs don't see both, then they will order putin's assassination before putin orders theirs. Depends on the Ukraine.

Let the assassinations in "Mother russia" begin!


BTW, when will Pence start referring to the USA as "Mother America?"

[yaesu]

8. I wonder if cyber currency, gold, silver markets could be shutdown for them? nt

[Happy Hoosier]

9. Good!!!

I’ve been waiting to hear this.

Keep pouring it on!!!

[Leghorn21]

10. And there ya freakin HAVE IT

KNOCK KNOCK YOU ABOUT TO GET SHELL SHOCKED

[orangecrush]

29. +1

[gab13by13]

12. It had to be done,

I expect Putin to do cyber attacks on the US, so we need to be prepared.

[monkeyman1]

16. In spades !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. US + EU commit to removing selected Russian banks from Swift

Link to tweet

[mzmolly]

14. Excellent

news!

[paleotn]

15. Good!!

That will leave a mark.

[electric_blue68]

17. Good.

[Warpy]

18. Sooner than I thought.

Eventually, Putin will have to declare victory and announce a permanently neutral Ukraine, something that Ukraine has already hinted at.

That would be the best oucome. I don't want to think about the worst.

[BlueWavePsych]

19. BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. Zelenskyy- "This is an important victory. It means billions & billions in losses for Russia.

Link to tweet

[SunSeeker]

21. Good. nt

[NQAS]

23. Question about these sanctions

Let’s say they somehow work. Russian troops pull back and the assessment is that they’ll stay back.

How long do the sanctions stay in place? I’d say st least a year

[Danascot]

32. Ths is a good discussion of the sanctions and how effective they are

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS:I know that Zelenskyy is asking European Union leaders for very specific things. I just want to run through them briefly and then get your thoughts. He wants them to ban Russians from entering the EU, to cut Moscow off from the SWIFT banking system, and to impose an oil embargo on Russia. Could any of those or a combination of them be enough to make Putin turn around and out of Ukraine?

JOSH KIRSCHENBAUM: I don't think that the time horizon of any sanctions can force a withdrawal of a military force on the ground. They can impose costs that will compound over time and affect the Kremlin's decision-making, particularly if those were downed politically within Russia and caused a lot of dissent [INAUDIBLE] from the public, but even the most aggressive steps, like a full financial embargo and a full energy embargo, would take time to take a full effect.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Do you think that sanctioning Russia's oil exports is a realistic option for the US? Because I know the EU is closely looking at that and even admitting that it would cause them pain to do that, but they're saying they're willing to sacrifice that. Do you think it's something that's realistically on the table, or should it be for the US?

JOSH KIRSCHENBAUM: Yeah, my read of the situation is that there are probably two different analyses happening within the US government and then among European governments. So within the US, we are probably looking at American sanctions on Russian oil, whether that's exports of Russian oil, financing, investment. That's something we could certainly do and have a significant impact, particularly in the longer term, as their oil sector starts to feel the effects of lack of investment and support.

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/oil-gas-banking-sanctions-real-185146809.html

[blue-wave]

24. Yes!!!

[MontanaMama]

25. I want to see Russia broken.

I didn’t think this step would happen so soon.

[Igel]

26. Looking ahead ...

Reports are that post-invansion EU countries *increased* orders for Russian NG. Most of which will go through Ukraine.

Makes sense. Buy more now before the cut-off happens, whether EU- or Ru-side. Still, it shovels more euros at Russia.

Posted on Guardian's blog, making failure to deliver sort of unavoidable:

Unconfirmed reports are filtering in that a gas pipeline is on fire in Kharkiv after a Russian attack.

In Vasylkiv, central Ukraine, an oil terminal has also reportedly been targeted, according to the National News Agency of Ukraine.

Illia Ponomarenko, a reporter for the Kyiv Independent, says the population in the area has been advised to keep their windows shut against hazardous chemical fumes.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the the Ministry of Internal Affairs , said on Telegram.

The missile attack was carried out on the Vasilkovskaya oil depot of the KLO company. Rescuers have already left for the scene of the tragedy. Most likely, there were no casualties. It will burn for a long time. The environmental damage will be colossal.”

The mayor of Vasilkov, Natalia Balasinovich, also confirmed that rockets hit the oil depot in Vasilkov, and a strong fire started.

Depend on the devil, don't be surprised when a delivery of holy water shows up. (Full disclosure: My faith tradition supports neither of these 'memes'--more "Supernatural" with Paderecki and "Dean" than what I ever believed.)

[iemanja]

27. Newsweek says some Russian banks will be cut off

but not all. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/swift-to-ban-some-russia-banks-after-ukraines-blood-of-innocents-warning/ar-AAUmdHd?ocid=BingNewsSearch

The linked article also says "selected banks." This is a great step forward, but I don't want people to misunderstand what's being done.

[orangecrush]

28. GOOD

ESAD, Putin!

[Pinback]

30. Maybe they can use Truth Social.

[KewlKat]

31. Kick

[The Jungle 1]

33. Yo puketin

You are a dickweed.

[AngryOldDem]

35. Look for bank runs on Monday.

This has had the effect of at least spooking citizens. Saw a post on Reddit of long lines at ATMs, with reports of some credit cards being declined. Even though this is targeted at the “big fish,” it will have a definite ripple effect. Don’t fuck — or hint at fucking — with other people’s money.

And…I don’t care. Putin broke it, he bought it.

[L. Coyote]

36. How long until we see a Russian Spring uprising of the people?

Link to tweet