RT โ The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) announced on Saturday that it was preparing to comply with orders from Western powers to disconnect Russia from its system.
In aย statementย to Reuters, SWIFT said it wasย โengaging with European authorities to understand the details of the entities that will be subject to the new measuresโย and wasย โpreparing to comply upon legal instruction.โ
The European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States issued a statement on Saturday announcing thatย โselected Russian banksโย would beย โremoved from the SWIFT messaging systemโย in response to Russiaโs offensive in Ukraine.
The Western powers also announced that the Russian Central Bank would be preventedย โfrom deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impactโย of their sanctions.
Several years ago, after members of NATO previously considered disconnecting Russia from SWIFT, Moscow warned at the time that such a decision would be seen as a declaration of war.
Former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedevย saidย in 2019 that disconnecting Russia from SWIFT would be akin toย โa blow in the stomachโย and would beย โessentially a declaration of war.โ
