War in Ukraine: Swift exclusion of Russian banks and further sanctions decided

Created: 02/27/2022Updated: 02/27/2022 06:38

By: Johannes Nuß, Karolin Schäfer, Max Schäfer

Western countries agree to exclude Russian banks from the Swift international payment system.

More sanctions will follow.

• The West reacted to the attack from Russia* on Ukraine* with a whole series of sanctions.

• Together with its allies from Europe, the USA* decide to exclude Russian banks from the international banking communication network Swift.

• Should Vladimir Putin* not stop the attacks on Ukraine, Germany and the European Union want to decide on further sanctions.

+++ 6:20 a.m .:

After the exclusion of a large part of the Russian banks from the bank communication network Swift, Germany decided on further sanctions against Russia.

The airspace over the Federal Republic is now closed to all Russian aircraft.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP*) announced this early in the morning.

Lufthansa had previously canceled all civil flights to Russia.

+++ 4:06 a.m .:

Because of the Ukraine conflict, the foreign ministers of the G7 countries will meet online for an emergency meeting on Sunday.

Germany is also part of the G7 group.

The meeting was announced by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Japanese TV.

Kiev under fire.

The West has responded to Russia's attack on Ukraine with tough sanctions.

© Daniel Leal/afp

Ukraine conflict: Russia is excluded from Swift

Hayashi wants to reconfirm the cooperation with the other partners "to improve the situation," it said.

Russia's invasion was "a unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force," the Japanese foreign minister was quoted as saying.

Russia's actions are "absolutely unacceptable because it clearly violates international law".

Japan had joined the US and Europe in imposing sanctions on Russia.

Update from Sunday, February 27, 12:50 a.m .:

The UN Security Council meets on Sunday for a special session about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The United States and Albania have presented a draft resolution to convene the UN General Assembly, the AFP news agency learned from diplomatic circles on Saturday.

This decision is to be voted on on Sunday afternoon (9 p.m. CET).

Sanctions against Russia: UN Security Council meets for special session on Sunday

According to the information, a special procedure is used for voting, so that none of the five permanent members of the Security Council can veto the resolution.

If accepted, the General Assembly would be convened within the next 24 hours.

+++ 11:11 p.m.:

Germany and Western allies have decided to exclude Russian financial institutions from the Swift banking communications network.

This was announced by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Saturday evening in Berlin.

The decision was made by the United States, France, Canada, Italy, Great Britain, the European Commission and Germany.

Sanctions against Russia: Russian banks will be banned from the Swift payment system

All Russian banks that have already been sanctioned by the international community are affected.

If necessary, other Russian banks should also be added.

This should cut off these institutes from international financial flows, which would massively restrict their global activities.

Sanctions against Russia: More sanctions will follow if Russia does not end its attack on Ukraine

In addition, a working group with representatives of the USA and the European Union should be set up to ensure the speedy implementation of the sanctions and to freeze the assets of sanctioned individuals, their families and companies.

The countries therefore emphasized their willingness to take further measures should Russia not end its attack against Ukraine and thus against the European peace order.

+++ 10.30 p.m .:

In the conflict with Russia, the federal government is preparing to block German airspace for Russian machines.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing supports the closure and has ordered everything to be prepared for it, his ministry announced on Saturday evening.

+++ 9:20 p.m .:

 The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will block their airspace for Russian aircraft because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ban will apply to aircraft operated by air carriers with licenses issued by the Russian Federation from midnight on Sunday.

It is expected that the other EU countries will follow suit shortly.

Sanctions against Russia – Swift system decoupling imminent

+++ 9:00 p.m .:

The EU and the USA want to exclude Russia from the Swift international banking communication system after the invasion of Ukraine.

According to information from the dpa, this could happen this weekend.

There will be a video conference on Saturday evening with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

US government supplies anti-tank guided missiles to Ukraine

+++ 8.30 p.m .:

For the “immediate defense” of Ukraine, the US government around Joe Biden * Kiev has now secured up to 350 million US dollars (312 million euros) available.

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained, the military support is intended to help defend against the Russian threat.

In addition, the USA* provides Javelin-type anti-tank guided missiles, as a representative of the US Department of Defense explained to the dpa.

Overall, the United States has already delivered many weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.

This means that American military aid has totaled around one billion US dollars since last year.

Putin's war: anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles for Ukraine

+++ 8 p.m.:

1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 surface-to-air missiles are being delivered to Ukraine from Bundeswehr stocks.

And as soon as possible, as announced by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has now also commented on this.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point.

It threatens our entire post-war order,” declared the Chancellor.

"In this situation, it is our duty to do our best to support Ukraine in defending itself against Vladimir Putin's invading army." Germany stands closely by Ukraine's side.

Putin's war: Russia's decoupling from the Swift system planned

+++ 7.30 p.m .:

After the federal government’s change of course to deliver weapons to Ukraine, work is apparently also being done on decoupling Russia from the Swift system.

The dpa reported, citing the information provided by several ministers.

"We are working on decoupling Russia from the Swift system in such a way that collateral damage remains as small as possible," said Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) on Twitter.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economics Minister Robert Habeck * (both Green) formulated a similar tweet that was distributed by the Foreign Office channel.

“At the same time, we are working flat out on how to limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people.

What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT.”

Federal government supplies anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine

+++ 19.10:

Germany is now delivering weapons from the Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine.

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced on Saturday that the Ukrainian armed forces are being supported with 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 "Stinger" surface-to-air missiles.

Ukraine conflict: Baerbock comments on arms delivery

In addition to anti-tank weapons, the export of 14 armored vehicles with special protection to Ukraine was also approved.

This was reported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.

Such vehicles are intended for personal protection and, if necessary, for evaluation purposes.

At the same time, it is planned to deliver 10,000 tons of fuel to Ukraine via Poland.

“After Russia's shameless attack, Ukraine must be able to defend itself.

She has an inalienable right to self-defense.

The federal government is therefore also supporting Ukraine in providing urgently needed material," said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock * and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, according to the dpa.

Ukraine war: Poland demands more toughness from Germany on sanctions against Russia

+++ 16:26:

The Polish head of government Mateusz Morawiecki has denounced the "stone selfishness" of some countries, including Germany, in the Ukraine conflict.

At his meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Morawiecki said on Saturday to Polish journalists in Berlin that he wanted to "shake up Germany's conscience" so that it would finally decide on sanctions against Russia that were "really overwhelming".

"Only rapid and severe sanctions" could stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine, says Morawiecki.

The Polish Prime Minister specifically demanded that not only the Nord Stream 2* gas pipeline be stopped, but also Nord Stream 1.

In addition, Russia must be excluded from the bank communication network Swift.

The Pole commented sarcastically on the previous German aid to Ukraine: “Five thousand helmets?

You must be joking.”

Russia sanctions: Swift ban?

Selenskyj puts pressure on Scholz

First report from Saturday, February 26th, 2022, 3:21 p.m.:

Kiev/Berlin – After the outbreak of the Ukraine war, western states introduced sanctions against Russia.

However, a possible punitive measure has not yet been taken: Russia's exclusion from the international banking communication network Swift, which is necessary for foreign trade.

Great Britain*, among others, is in favor of this, but there are reservations in the EU.

In view of the fighting for the capital Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is calling for consistent action by the EU.

Specifically, he calls on Germany and Hungary to support the exclusion of Russia from Swift.

Zelenskyy said in a video message on Saturday (February 26, 2022) that he hoped that Berlin and Budapest “will have the courage” to join a similar demand from numerous other European countries.

"There is already almost full support from EU countries to decouple Russia from Swift," Zelenskyy said.

At the same time, he again called for Ukraine to join the EU.

EU disagrees on sanctions against Russia: Swift ban coming?

Within the EU, there was initially disagreement about the Swift exclusion as a sanction against Russia.

Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn defended the move on Friday (February 25, 2022).

"We cannot provoke another world trade crisis alongside this crisis that we are having now," said Asselborn.

Sanctions because of the Ukraine war: Swift exclusion of Russia more and more likely

However, the resistance of individual EU states against the Swift exclusion of Russia as a sanction in the Ukraine conflict* is decreasing.

According to the social democratic party leader Enrico Letta, Italy is now in favor of this measure.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi now supports the exclusion.

Draghi himself did not comment on this, but let it be known that Italy fully supports the EU's line on sanctions against Russia, "including those affecting Swift".

Earlier, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy tweeted that during a phone call, Draghi told him that Italy supported Russia's detachment from Swift.

In Germany, too, the pressure on the federal government to agree to the exclusion of Russia from Swift is growing.

An exclusion of Russia from Swift is conceivable if the EU members collectively agree that the pressure on Russia can be further increased, Finance Minister Christian Lindner* (FDP) said on Friday (February 25, 2022) at the meeting of EU finance ministers Finance Minister explained.

Ukraine crisis: pressure on Scholz because of Russia's Swift exclusion

In his own party, too, the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz* (SPD) is growing because of his no to Russia's exclusion from Swift.

Juso chairwoman Jessica Rosenthal called on Saturday (February 26, 2022) to clear the way for this sanction.

“We must not shy away from imposing all sanctions at our disposal.

This also includes the exclusion of Russia from Swift, ”said the head of the SPD youth association* of the German Press Agency.

“We can really hurt the Russian government with this.

We should meet the demands of our Eastern European partner countries here.” (ms with dpa/AFP)