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The pressure on Russia is all-out. There is the “financial nuclear weapon”, to use the words of the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire, or to exclude Russia from the Swift system, but there are also other economic sanctions.
Russian banks will no longer have access to the Swift system, used worldwide for financial transactions. The countries of the European Union have agreed to strike Vladimir Putin with this banking weapon on Saturday February 26. “This will lead to their disconnection from the international financial system“, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen. How does this system work? Just like individuals who use their IBAN code, companies for payments abroad use a Swift code. This ultra-secure network speeds up money transfers. Deprived of this service, the main Russian banks will be penalized for selling their gas and oil.
On Sunday February 26, Japan announced that it joined in this retaliatory measure. This penalty is in addition to those already imposed: freezing of the assets of the oligarchs, but above all of part of the assets of the Russian Central Bank. “This will limit its ability to intervene to deal with international sanctions, in particular to support the currency typically, it has a potentially devastating effect“, explains Christopher Dembikof SaxoBank. Unlike the Swift system, Russia will not be able to circumvent this ultimate measure, part of its money will remain blocked abroad.