The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), is a global network for payments among banks. Without it, international finance and trade would be nearly impossible.
It would be a terrible thing for a country’s economy to be cut off from the SWIFT network. A nation doesn’t have a viable alternative.
Why doesn’t Biden reduce the boom on Putin, and make it worth not invading Ukraine?
Russia being kicked out of SWIFT could cause mass unemployment and shortages of all things, from food to electronics.
Except for vodka. Russia will always have enough vodka for any crisis.
According to GZero Media – It would cause a major disruption to the Russian economy and financial sector, rendering it virtually impossible for Russians or Russian companies to transact electronic business with other banks and companies. Alexei Kudrin, a former Finance Minister, once predicted that Russia’s GDP would shrink by 5% if it lost SWIFT access. The most important thing is that Russia could lose SWIFT access, which could affect its ability to pay for natural gas shipments to Europe. The Kremlin could lose its largest gas consumer in a matter of hours, while the Europeans would lose the largest source for energy imports. (This is why some Europeans are hesitant about removing Russia from SWIFT.
Russia is part of a complex and interdependent system of finance, trade, and commerce. Russia could sink into depression if it doesn’t receive natural gas payments. Europe would, however, freeze.
Reuters was told by several EU sources that the EU would not agree to the move despite repeated requests. Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, stated that Germany is a key trading partner to Russia and opposed the blocking of Russia’s payment system access at this stage. However, he also indicated that such a move could be taken at a later stage. As he arrived at an emergency summit to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Scholz stated that it was important to agree on the measures that have been taken and to keep all other things for when that may be necessary.
The European continent is on fire. Russian troops are marching, Ukrainians are being killed, and tens to thousands of refugees are blocking the roads of eastern Europe.
However, allowing Russia to use SWIFT continues to be a sanction that can be used in a situation that may require it to go further.
Please, God, help us. What is the limit of Russia’s potential progress before Germany wakes up Is there a later stage that is more serious than the one we are currently at?
Scholz might want to wait until Putin puts up a guillotine right in the middle of Kyiv and begins talking heads.
This is why Biden, and the U.S. allies, aren’t serious about stopping Putin. Biden has not done all that is possible to stop the Russian invasion, except by going to war. He could have taken other actions, though they were more provocative or more dangerous. However, if Biden won’t take risks to stop Putin then why should NATO allies?
Putin will not lose touch with reality unless he has completely lost his sense of reality. He will take his Ukraine conquest into consideration before moving on to the next target. It is hoped that he will encounter more resistance there than the milquetoast responses of NATO and Biden.
