Photo: Reuters
On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed the removal of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, alongside two other banks from the international SWIFT transaction and messaging system as a hit to Russia’s financial system over the war in Ukraine.
Commission head Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament, “We de-SWIFT Sberbank — by far Russia’s largest bank, and two other major banks. By that, we hit banks that are systemically critical to the Russian financial system and Putin’s ability to wage destruction.”
She added, “This will solidify the complete isolation of the Russian financial sector from the global system.”
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