The idea of ​​cutting off Russian banks from global financial flows is no longer being promoted.The EU and the US have moved away from the idea to disconnect the Russian Federation from SWIFT / REUTERS illustration

Instead of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT payment service provider , the EU and the US are mulling over targeted economic sanctions.

This is reported by the German newspaper Handelsblatt , citing government sources .

Over the past weeks, Ukraine’s Western partners have been discussing how to respond in the event of a Russian military invasion of our country. The Kremlin is threatened with serious repercussions without further clarification. 

READ ALSOZelensky was told that the United States transferred sanctions against Nord Stream 2 to another “basket” and plans to disconnect the Russian Federation from SWIFT

One of the possible steps is to disconnect Russia from the SWIFT system. This move could destabilize financial markets in the short term. In addition, this may contribute to the development of an alternative payment infrastructure in which the West will not dominate.

At present, negotiations between the EU and the US are focused on the formation of sanctions against large Russian banks, but not on the disconnection from SWIFT. At the same time,  Germany insists on exemptions so that gas and oil imports from Russia can be paid for.

Earlier , the candidate for the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, spoke out against the exclusion of Russia from the international banking payment system SWIFT.

In December, deputies of the European Parliament called on the governing institutions of the European Union to disconnect the Russian Federation from the global payment system SWIFT.

Then the head of the Russian bank “VTB” Andrei Kostin said that Russia will survive the disconnection from the SWIFT payment system in the event of a new aggression against Ukraine.

(C)UNIAN 2022