The rhetoric about disconnecting Russia from the international interbank SWIFT system is constantly observed, but there are no real prospects for such a step, said Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the department for economic cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, on December 28.
“There are no real prospects for disconnecting Russia from SWIFT. We have stressed this repeatedly throughout the year. This rhetoric periodically dies down, then appears with renewed vigor, ”the diplomat said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
He recalled that SWIFT is an international private company headquartered in Belgium. How the Americans are going to implement their threats to disconnect Russia from the system is not clear.
“Although we all perfectly understand that the US still has great leverage, so we are ready for any surprises,” Birichevsky stressed.
On December 20, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Olga Skorobogatova also said that the exclusion of Russia from the international interbank system for transferring information and making SWIFT payments is not beneficial to other states. She added that SWIFT is a cooperative with more than 100 countries participating. At the moment, there are no statements from SWIFT about any intentions in relation to Russia.
On December 6, CNN, citing sources, also reported that the United States is studying the possibility of imposing sanctions on the Russian national debt and excluding the country from the SWIFT system as part of measures to deter against an “invasion” of Ukraine.
In April, a similar proposal was made from the EU. The European Parliament published a draft resolution proposing to disconnect Russia from the international SWIFT system and abandon oil and gas “in case of continued aggression” of the country.
Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the country will quickly find an alternative to SWIFT if the system shows its unreliability. The Kremlin spokesman stressed that it is time for other states to understand that Russia is a self-sufficient and strong country.
