London February 27 2022: The EU, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States have just released a co-ordinated statement condemning the Russian invasion.
“As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies,” they say.
Measures to be implemented in the coming days include removing “selected Russian banks from the Swift messaging system”.
“This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.”
Swift is the global financial artery that allows the smooth and rapid transfer of money across borders.
The new financial measures just announced by the EU, US, UK, France, Germany and others targeting Russia will be complemented by a transatlantic task force, according to the joint statement.
That effort “will ensure the effective implementation of our financial sanctions” by identifying and freezing the assets of sanctioned individuals and organisations, they say.
The group says it will also work with other governments to “deny these individuals the ability to hide their assets in jurisdictions across the world”.
Western countries have already imposed sanctions on several major Russian institutions, officials and elites, including President Vladimir Putin himself.
“We stand with the Ukrainian people in this dark hour,” the statement concludes.
