Our valued sponsor

EU Threatens Russia with SWIFT Network Disconnection

Martin Everson

Offshore Retiree
Moderator
Jan 2, 2018
9,536
1
8,574
173
Visit site

------ quote start

Over 50 European Parliament lawmakers tabled a resolution yesterday (Wednesday April 28) proposing disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT payment system and halting the purchase of Russian oil and gas supplies if Moscow’s alleged “aggression and continued destabilization of Ukraine, hostile behavior towards and outright attacks on EU member states and societies” escalates into military action.

In a draft resolution tabled on Wednesday “on Russia, the case of Alexei Navalny, the military build-up on Ukraine’s border and Russian attacks in the Czech Republic,” the group of mostly Eastern European lawmakers suggested that if the current tensions over Ukraine turn into an outright Russian invasion, imports of “oil and gas from Russia to the EU must be immediately stopped, while Russia should be excluded from the SWIFT payment system, and all assets in the EU of oligarchs close to the Russian authorities and their families in the EU need to be frozen and their visas cancelled.”

The resolution goes on to blame Moscow for the deterioration of the security situation in eastern Ukraine and criticizes Russia for suspending “the right of innocent passage for warships and commercial vessels” through the Kerch Strait until 31 October. That measure was adopted after US and British warships were originally deployed to the enter the Black Sea – they have since turned back.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has stated that relations between Moscow and Brussels were at a “low point” and could deteriorate further in the future. Borrell accused Russia of “pretending” to be a neutral mediator in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and claimed Moscow was not interested in the realization of the Minsk agreements.

Under the terms of the Minsk accords, signed in early 2015 in the Belarusian capital after months of brutal fighting between Kiev forces and militias in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, the breakaways would return to Ukrainian jurisdiction in exchange for broad autonomy. The two sides made good on their promises to halt fighting and move heavy military equipment away from the line of contact, but the agreement’s implementation has since been stalled, with Ukrainian lawmakers refusing to proceed with the legislation to grant the Donbass autonomy.

The reference to “hostile behavior towards and outright attacks on EU member states and societies” by the EU concerning the Ukraine will not sit well with Moscow – the Ukraine is not an EU member and it will further suspicions by Russia that the situation is part of an EU-NATO plot to influence territory previously part of its remit away from its sphere of influence. The Ukraine has traditionally been a major agricultural source of food for Western Russia.

The vast majority of East Ukrainians are ethnic Russian rather than Ukrainian and supportive of Moscow. They have been subjected to intimidation by Kiev for not following Kiev’s pro-EU stance and rather as in the situation in Crimea, suffered because of lack of infrastructure and social investment. Kiev also wishes to join the EU and NATO, the latter a situation that Moscow will not tolerate as it brings US, and NATO military capabilities close to Moscow. Moscow instead, given its experiences in two World Wars, wishes to retain a ‘buffer region’ between it and the United States. Moscow also wishes to protect ethnic Russians.

The EU meanwhile has expansionist tendencies and sees the Ukraine as a potential breadbasket. Historically the country has veered from being part of various European Empires before being part of the Islamic Ottman Empire prior to being annexed by Catherne the Great’s armies in 1774, when it became part of the Russian Empire, a situation that continued under the USSR and civil war that resulted in West Ukraine being subsumed by Poland (now an EU member). The resulting country, half its previous size, remained part of the USSR until its demise in 1991. Since then, it has retained independence although veering between political alliances between Brussels and Moscow. That continuing struggle – now 30 years old – is a main source of conflict between Russia, the EU and NATO – with some vested interests preferring there is no resolution.

Cutting Russia off from the SWIFT banking network would impose a huge amount of inconvenience on Russian nationals reliant in any way upon international money transfers. It would cut off all business and trade ties with the EU and United States, with suffering being inflicted on Russian nationals and relatives overseas being unable to access remittances sent from Russia.

It would usher in further moves to tie Russia to China and Asia and hasten the development of alternative payment systems from SWIFT – which are already under development by Moscow and Beijing.

It would also, in conjunction with the US decoupling from China, bring forward the rapid likelihood of a new cold war seeing a definitive split between East and West.

----- quote end
 

------ quote start

Over 50 European Parliament lawmakers tabled a resolution yesterday (Wednesday April 28) proposing disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT payment system and halting the purchase of Russian oil and gas supplies if Moscow’s alleged “aggression and continued destabilization of Ukraine, hostile behavior towards and outright attacks on EU member states and societies” escalates into military action.

In a draft resolution tabled on Wednesday “on Russia, the case of Alexei Navalny, the military build-up on Ukraine’s border and Russian attacks in the Czech Republic,” the group of mostly Eastern European lawmakers suggested that if the current tensions over Ukraine turn into an outright Russian invasion, imports of “oil and gas from Russia to the EU must be immediately stopped, while Russia should be excluded from the SWIFT payment system, and all assets in the EU of oligarchs close to the Russian authorities and their families in the EU need to be frozen and their visas cancelled.”

The resolution goes on to blame Moscow for the deterioration of the security situation in eastern Ukraine and criticizes Russia for suspending “the right of innocent passage for warships and commercial vessels” through the Kerch Strait until 31 October. That measure was adopted after US and British warships were originally deployed to the enter the Black Sea – they have since turned back.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has stated that relations between Moscow and Brussels were at a “low point” and could deteriorate further in the future. Borrell accused Russia of “pretending” to be a neutral mediator in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and claimed Moscow was not interested in the realization of the Minsk agreements.

Under the terms of the Minsk accords, signed in early 2015 in the Belarusian capital after months of brutal fighting between Kiev forces and militias in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, the breakaways would return to Ukrainian jurisdiction in exchange for broad autonomy. The two sides made good on their promises to halt fighting and move heavy military equipment away from the line of contact, but the agreement’s implementation has since been stalled, with Ukrainian lawmakers refusing to proceed with the legislation to grant the Donbass autonomy.

The reference to “hostile behavior towards and outright attacks on EU member states and societies” by the EU concerning the Ukraine will not sit well with Moscow – the Ukraine is not an EU member and it will further suspicions by Russia that the situation is part of an EU-NATO plot to influence territory previously part of its remit away from its sphere of influence. The Ukraine has traditionally been a major agricultural source of food for Western Russia.

The vast majority of East Ukrainians are ethnic Russian rather than Ukrainian and supportive of Moscow. They have been subjected to intimidation by Kiev for not following Kiev’s pro-EU stance and rather as in the situation in Crimea, suffered because of lack of infrastructure and social investment. Kiev also wishes to join the EU and NATO, the latter a situation that Moscow will not tolerate as it brings US, and NATO military capabilities close to Moscow. Moscow instead, given its experiences in two World Wars, wishes to retain a ‘buffer region’ between it and the United States. Moscow also wishes to protect ethnic Russians.

The EU meanwhile has expansionist tendencies and sees the Ukraine as a potential breadbasket. Historically the country has veered from being part of various European Empires before being part of the Islamic Ottman Empire prior to being annexed by Catherne the Great’s armies in 1774, when it became part of the Russian Empire, a situation that continued under the USSR and civil war that resulted in West Ukraine being subsumed by Poland (now an EU member). The resulting country, half its previous size, remained part of the USSR until its demise in 1991. Since then, it has retained independence although veering between political alliances between Brussels and Moscow. That continuing struggle – now 30 years old – is a main source of conflict between Russia, the EU and NATO – with some vested interests preferring there is no resolution.

Cutting Russia off from the SWIFT banking network would impose a huge amount of inconvenience on Russian nationals reliant in any way upon international money transfers. It would cut off all business and trade ties with the EU and United States, with suffering being inflicted on Russian nationals and relatives overseas being unable to access remittances sent from Russia.

It would usher in further moves to tie Russia to China and Asia and hasten the development of alternative payment systems from SWIFT – which are already under development by Moscow and Beijing.

It would also, in conjunction with the US decoupling from China, bring forward the rapid likelihood of a new cold war seeing a definitive split between East and West.

----- quote end
That sounds very unlikely to happen honestly. It will probably de escalate at some point
 
I say zero chance of this happening. But the threat to smaller countries is now there.

actually an alternative for SWIFT would be great

I agree. Time to move on from swift and correspondence banking. It has had its day.
 
@Cetme308win an alternative is already in the making. China, India and Russia are already working on a SWIFT alternative as they want to be dollar independent.
To be honest, I think that we will see a major change in the banking world in the next 10 years (not because of cryptos, still think that independet cryptos are far far away from real adaption). I think that the chances are very high that Russia, China and India will fully complete their SWIFT alternative including a complete umatched banking and payment infrastructure. Threatening Russia to kick them out of SWIFT will speed up the whole process even further. Their new banking infrastructure will be unmatched and is needed for the fast expansion of the Chinese Loan enslavement strategy. China and the USA are even now. Let the games begin.
 
@Cetme308win an alternative is already in the making. China, India and Russia are already working on a SWIFT alternative as they want to be dollar independent.
To be honest, I think that we will see a major change in the banking world in the next 10 years (not because of cryptos, still think that independet cryptos are far far away from real adaption). I think that the chances are very high that Russia, China and India will fully complete their SWIFT alternative including a complete umatched banking and payment infrastructure. Threatening Russia to kick them out of SWIFT will speed up the whole process even further. Their new banking infrastructure will be unmatched and is needed for the fast expansion of the Chinese Loan enslavement strategy. China and the USA are even now. Let the games begin.
indeed it is going to be interesting how the battle with end. There is so much unrest in the world at the moment that things quickly can go wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cetme308win
There is so much unrest in the world at the moment that things quickly can go wrong.
This is historical cycles repeating. We are presently in overlapping war cycles, political cycles, and economic cycles.

From an American perspective:

1) American Revolution ends with the Treaty of Paris in 1783
2) 1785 + 80 years = 1865 (end of the American Civil War)
3) 1865 + 80 years = 1945 (end of WWII)
4) 1945 + 80 years = 2025 (???)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cetme308win
Russia always responds in kind. Kaliningrad Oblast as pure tax heaven.
Russia always TELLS that responds in kind. That's not the same.
In reality Russia is a bigmouthed country with limited capabilities (even military, excluding old soviet warheads). So most of the so called 'responses' are either pure PR, or 'beating their own people to make others afraid' as in Russian saying.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: troubled soul
I say zero chance of this happening. But the threat to smaller countries is now there.



I agree. Time to move on from swift and correspondence banking. It has had its day.

@Cetme308win an alternative is already in the making. China, India and Russia are already working on a SWIFT alternative as they want to be dollar independent.
To be honest, I think that we will see a major change in the banking world in the next 10 years (not because of cryptos, still think that independet cryptos are far far away from real adaption). I think that the chances are very high that Russia, China and India will fully complete their SWIFT alternative including a complete umatched banking and payment infrastructure. Threatening Russia to kick them out of SWIFT will speed up the whole process even further. Their new banking infrastructure will be unmatched and is needed for the fast expansion of the Chinese Loan enslavement strategy. China and the USA are even now. Let the games begin.

indeed it is going to be interesting how the battle with end. There is so much unrest in the world at the moment that things quickly can go wrong.

We are in 2021, we need something cheaper,faster and less complex than swift.

Actually, if their develop a decentralized system,where anyone can't be disconnected and such system faces a global adoption, would be the end of CRS
 
  • Like
Reactions: daxbr
Actually, if their develop a decentralized system,where anyone can't be disconnected and such system faces a global adoption, would be the end of CRS
the last part of this sentence will never come true, it would be dreams, as long as this world is driven by money, governments will collect as much taxes as possible.
 
the last part of this sentence will never come true, it would be dreams, as long as this world is driven by money, governments will collect as much taxes as possible.
exactly, world is driven by money and the bank secrecy business was a big business in the old times

Do you think a country would care to be in the EU tax haven list if a ban or restriction cannot be enforced?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Golden Fleece
I'm not even sure if you need an alternative for SWIFT if crypto environment grows a bit more - right now you have USD pegged stablecoins, some are less "regulated" (USDT), some are more regulated (USDC), some are basically decentralized and do not have a weak vulnerable bottleneck (DAI).

If I'm Russian, I'm banned from SWIFT and I want to pay the Chinese in dollars, I don't see why I wouldn't use a stablecoin. Of course it requires some technical knowledge and trust from both parties - but it perfectly avoids the SWIFT system with no need of creating a new one.

SWIFT is yet another way how the US enforces its interests and power around the world, just like with the petrodollar system where it was just decided that Saudis will sell their oil for dollars and that's the way it worked. Doesn't mean the world will be the same in a few years. Especially if the US becomes more and more greedy against both its citizens and other "rogue" countries.
 
Its not about the monetary system its about crim.Crim is a central strategical russian base for their navy.Losing that point would mean losing control over the black sea and support for Putin by the russian army leaders.It would be a switch in power from status quo to pro nato supporters.
India allowed itself to be blackmailed in the past with the threat of being exluded from SWIFT as its a monetary weapon from the US.
However russia/Putin can't accept this demand else it would mean lose of control over russia.
Also russia and china already forsee this coming and prepared for it with their own systems like SPFS

Btw who is the EU ?A NOBODY in todays world.A colony of the US and nothing more.

 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnLocke
I am convinced this financial terrorism by major powers has to come to an end. Just the terror threat alone of having your countries entire banking system cutoff from the global financial system is unacceptable for any sovereign country. It will indeed hasten SWIFT's demise. No country is going to accept being in the position Russia is in right now. Today Russia tomorrow some other non-aligned country. The genie is out the bottle with this threat and it is time for an alternative path to be forged by those willing to separate global politics from global finance.
 
How would European countries send money to Russia for oil and gas, for instance? They'd have to hire special people who'd fly there in droves on daily basis, with cash in their pockets.

But the worse - the better. The faster an alternative to Swift will get built. The more fragmentation will there be in the world, the less coorepation in regards to, say, CRS and other things, which in turn will result in a better situation. No?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerry1911
lol this retailation is getting fun


Russia's foreign ministry said those banned included
- Vera Jourova, vice president for values and transparency at the executive European Commission,
- David Sassoli, the president of the European parliament,
- Jacques Maire, a member of the French delegation at the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.
three officials from the Baltic states:
- Ivars Abolins, chairman of Latvia's National Electronic Media Council,
- Maris Baltins, director of the Latvian State Language Center,
- Ilmar Tomusk, head of Estonia's Language Inspectorate.

It also banned Jorg Raupach, Berlin's public prosecutor, and Asa Scott of the Swedish Defence Research Agency.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnLocke
With China and other big players being close to have their own digital currencies SWIFT might soon become a thing from the past. The US dollar hegemony might be seriously challenged. Interesting times are ahead.
The time is approaching. Now 75 years and counting. On the other hand, it could still be a decade or so away.
 

Attachments

  • Reserve Currency Length.png
    Reserve Currency Length.png
    34.1 KB · Views: 76

Latest Threads