EU and European Union agree to disconnect some Russian banks from the SWIFT system

Western nations have agreed to apply drastic new sanctions aimed at further isolating Russia’s economy and financial system after initial sanctions failed to convince President Vladimir Putin to withdraw from Ukraine.

A joint decision to disconnect some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, used for trillions of dollars worth of transactions between thousands of banks around the world, was announced in a joint statement on Saturday. The measure is aimed at Russian banks that have already been sanctioned by the international community but can be extended to other Russian banks, if necessary, according to a German government spokesman.

In addition, the nations said they would act together to impose restrictive measures that will prevent the Central Bank of Russia from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.

As the conflict in Ukraine rages on, a consensus has emerged to prevent Russia from using modern money pipelines and isolate it as an outcast akin to Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea. The United States and its European partners focused on a possible source of cash for the government in the 643 billion central bank reserves that Putin had accumulated before his attack.

Things are moving fast.

“Sanctioning Russia’s central bank is likely to have a dramatic effect on the Russian economy and its banking system, similar to what we saw in 1991,” said Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance. “This is likely to lead to massive bank runs and dollarization, with a sharp sell-off, reserve drain, and possibly a complete collapse of Russia’s financial system.”

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 service system.

The West is putting a financial stranglehold on Russia as Putin dashes any hope of diplomacy to end the fighting in Ukraine by ordering his army to move on Saturday.