Ukrainian Foreign Minister announced negotiations to disconnect Russia from SWIFT

Western partners of Kyiv are developing a number of sanctions against Russia in case of aggression against Ukraine, including the restriction of investment, trade and the possibility of disconnecting from the international banking system for making SWIFT payments. The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba spoke about this on the air of the CNBC TV channel, the recording was published on YouTube.

According to Kuleba, they are mainly talking about economic sanctions - restricting trade and investment in Russia, imposing restrictions on the country's sovereign debt, and restricting banking operations. “And, of course, the ‘nuclear option’ [discussed] that causes the most debate is the disconnection of Russia from the SWIFT system,” he said, adding that he was not aware of the full content of the discussed package of sanctions.

On the possibility of imposing sanctions, including disconnecting Russia from SWIFT, Bloomberg spoke on December 16, citing informed sources. According to the agency, the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to get the EU to agree on a wide package of sanctions measures that will be introduced in the event of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Among the sanctions, Bloomberg sources cited Russia's disconnection from SWIFT, new restrictions on companies in the defense and energy sectors, new restrictions on Moscow's ability to refinance the country's sovereign debt, and limits on transactions between major Russian banks, possibly including currency conversion.

Bloomberg interlocutors reported that a number of proposed measures, including disconnecting from SWIFT, are perceived by the parties as "extremely problematic." Thus, Washington and Brussels are afraid of the emergence of problems that may arise in the global energy market and other markets that receive exports from Russia. The European Union is also wary that coordinating measures "in haste" will have a negative impact on the diplomatic settlement of the situation. Europe, which is more dependent on Russian fuel supplies, also fears the possible consequences of such measures, the agency writes.