Biden declines to cut Russia from SWIFT payments system despite Ukraine's pleas
The United States is bucking
Ukraine’s calls to remove
Russia from a key international payment system, opting in favor of other
sanctions that President
Joe Biden argues might be more aggressive.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, better known as SWIFT, is the main secure messaging system that facilitates cross-border
financial transactions and money transfers. SWIFT is overseen by the Bank of Belgium and is used by 11,000 banks and institutions worldwide.
While there is a divide among Western nations about whether to cut
Russia out of SWIFT as punishment for its
invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv had lobbied for Biden to do so.
Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s prime minister,
lobbied “very hard” to remove Russia from the system, according to the
Financial Times.
On the other side of the coin, Germany and Italy have reportedly pushed back on the move, which is among the most severe nonmilitary actions that can be undertaken to punish Russia for the
invasion.
Biden declines to cut Russia from SWIFT payments system despite Ukraine's pleas