Western countries on Saturday adopted new sanctions against Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine, in particular by deciding to exclude many Russian banks from the Swift interbank platform, an essential cog in global finance.
Are concerned “all the Russian banks already sanctioned by the international community, as well as if necessary that other institutes”, specified the spokesman of the German government, whose country currently chairs the G7 forum.
These measures have been taken by the United States, France, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Italy and the European Commission.
According to the European Union, about 70% of the Russian banking sector is currently affected by the sanctions.
“This action will prevent banks from carrying out most of their global financial transactions, and therefore Russian exports and imports will be blocked,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“Paralysing” the Russian central bank
In addition, the Western partners have decided to further restrict the access of the Russian central bank to the capital markets, in order to make more difficult its attempts to support the course of the rouble, which is in decline following the war in Ukraine.
The EU wants to “paralyze” the assets of the Russian Central Bank, in order to prevent Moscow from using them to finance the conflict in Ukraine or counter the impact of international sanctions, explained Ursula von der Leyen.
The objective is to “freeze the financial transactions” of the institution and therefore “to make it impossible to liquidate its assets”, she explained in a video address after a meeting with the leaders of the United States, France, Germany and Italian.
This measure will be proposed by the European executive to the Member States in order to strengthen the sanctions already adopted on Friday by the Twenty-Seven, which target the sectors of finance, energy and transport.
Furthermore, the EU is seeking to “prohibit Russian oligarchs from using their financial assets” in European markets.
“These measures will significantly weaken the ability [de la Russie] finance its war and will seriously undermine its economy. Vladimir Putin has embarked on the path of the destruction of Ukraine, but in doing so he jeopardizes the future of his own country,” warned Ursula von der Leyen.
In a joint statement with Washington, Paris, Berlin, Rome, London and Ottawa, the European Commission also pledges to take measures to “restrict the issuance of golden passports” granting the nationality of a Western country to wealthy Russians close of the regime.
The Westerners also want to launch “next week” a transatlantic working group to “ensure the effective implementation of the financial sanctions” decided by the West “by identifying and freezing the assets of the persons and entities targeted”.