Preventing Moscow from ordering requires consensus among the EU’s 27 nations. Pressure is mounting for a joint decision, also in light of the fact that the sanctions imposed so far have not deterred Russian President Vladimir Putin from continuing his aggressive moves against Ukraine.

Moscow threatens to nationalize Western property

The Swift network between banks allows the exchange of information to manage financial transactions between more than 11 thousand institutions and companies, which is necessary for access to the global financial system.

Putin and Russia are aware of this, so much so that they have already counterattacked by threatening, in the event of Russian banks being expelled from the SWIFT system, to “nationalize property located in Russia attributable to persons registered in the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions, including the countries of The Anglo-Saxon world.

England also in favor

The explicit reference to England is not accidental. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined the call today to halt Russian participation in Swift. “We call for an end to Russian interference in Swift,” Johnson wrote in a tweet.

The situation corresponds to that recorded on the other side of the Atlantic. The Biden administration and the Federal Reserve say they are in touch to discuss the possible expulsion of Russia from Swift and its effects on the US economy, after the United States decided yesterday to join the European Union and freeze the assets of Putin, Lavrov and other Russian oligarchs.