Russia’s exclusion from the global interbank payment system SWIFT remains the “last resort” on the table of sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine.

So far, the United States and the European Union have not made such a move, in the context of the sanctions they have imposed against Russia. However, they would be able to activate this financial ‘weapon’, as US President Joe Biden said yesterday.

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is an international payment system, which is based on transactions through a standard code system.

The majority of SWIFT customers have huge trading volumes, such as e.g. the payments of Russian energy companies.

Any exclusion of Russia from this international system would be a severe blow to the country’s banks, would significantly reduce its ability to trade abroad, but also to make profits from oil and gas exports.

However, if such a move was adopted it would turn the global system of international trade “upside down”, a situation that everyone would “pay for”.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has spoken out in favor of excluding Russia from SWIFT, while French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the option remained open, but that he considered it only a “last resort”.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said, “all options are on the table”.

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