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Russian banks are disconnected from SWIFT system, and reserve $ 650 billion of Russia’s Central Bank is frozen

Author
Lesia Solovchuk

Over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union will freeze the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and Russian businessmen.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stated this on Twitter.

Quote"We commit to ensuring that Russian banks are removed from SWIFT. It will stop them from operating worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports," Ursula von der Leyen wrote.

In an official press release, the European Commission also confirmed that restrictive measures will be imposed shortly. They will prevent the Central Bank of Russia from using its international reserves to undermine the impact of international sanctions.

The assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation today amount to $643 billion. All of them will be frozen.

Also, the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Canada, and the United States condemned Russia's war against Ukraine and declared their readiness to apply additional restrictions against Russia, including removing banks from SWIFT.

On the previous day, the EU countries, the United States, Canada, and Britain agreed to remove Russian banks sanctioned over Russia's invasion of Ukraine from the international banking system SWIFT.

Quote"This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally," the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Canada, and the US noted in a joint statement.

"We condemn the war that Putin is deliberately waging against the people of Ukraine. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin," the document reads.

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If necessary, other banks from Russia will also be disconnected from SWIFT, Steffen Hebestreit, Spokesperson for the German government, clarified.

"All Russian banks that have already been sanctioned by the international community, and, if necessary, other Russian banks will be excluded from the SWIFT international payment system. Thus, these institutions should be cut off from international financial flows, which will limit their global activities," Hebeshtreit stated.

The SWIFT company stated it was ready to impose restrictions on Russian banks after receiving detailed information from the European authorities.

The European Union also promises to impose a third package of economic sanctions shortly.

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