US & allies vow to limit Russia's access to SWIFT banking system, mull additional measures

US President Joe Biden is expected to hold a "secure call" with the European allies on Monday to discuss the coordinated response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. "11:15 AM [16:15 GMT] the President hosts a secure call with Allies and partners to discuss the latest developments regarding Russia's attack on Ukraine and to coordinate our united response," the White House schedule read.  The US and its European allies have been in discussion about a key financial sanction against Russia, cutting its private banks off the SWIFT payment network, the International domain for global financial transactions that the EU believes will cripple the Russian economy. 

US, UK, Canada, and the West to impose new barrage of financial sanctions

As Russia launched an all-out offensive on Kyiv, the US, UK, Canada, and the West imposed a barrage of new financial sanctions against Russia, including a ban on exports to Russia and sanctions against Russian banks and state-controlled companies, and private banks. White House also announced last week that the US will personally sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for launching an attack on sovereign country Ukraine. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a press briefing that US President Joe Biden would join European allies, including the UK, and will order direct sanctions on "President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov and members of the national security team.” 

Biden also called defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who had appealed to the US and European nations to do more to help in a recorded video, prompting several EU nations to send military equipment to fight against Russian forces. EU made a unanimous decision to impose a broader sanctions package on Russia, including freezing Russian leader Putin’s own assets.”This is a premeditated attack.  

"Vladimir Putin has been planning this for months, as I’ve been — as we’ve been saying all along,” said the US President Joe Biden in a White House address. “He [Putin] moved more than 175,000 troops, military equipment into positions along the Ukrainian border.

He moved blood supplies into position and built a field hospital, which tells you all you need to know about his intentions all along,” added the US leader. Biden slammed Russia’s Putin for rejecting the United States and its Allies and partners’ efforts to address the mutual security concerns through dialogues. “For weeks — for weeks, we have been warning that this would happen.  And now it’s unfolding largely as we predicted,” said Joe Biden. 

Image: AP