US, Germany Continue To Allow Gas Transactions With Russia Despite SWIFT Ban

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock: “We buy 50% of our #coal from Russia. If we exclude Russia from #SWIFT the lights in #Germany will go out.”

yeah maybe should have thought of that before shutting down your nuclear power stations

— steve hilton (@SteveHiltonx) February 27, 2022

• US, Germany Continue To Allow Gas Transactions With Russia Despite SWIFT Ban
  by Tyler Durden, https://www.zerohedge.com/
  As Russian banks closed down both ATMs and then, later, open market trading, to avoid or contain the fallout from the Russian incursion into Ukraine, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the West doesn’t have the right tools to sanction Russia  – not that they could even if they did.
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  The problem, as we have said many times before,boils down to Russia’s control over Europe’s energy supplies. But even as a growing number of Russian oligarchs release messages claiming that their sympathies lie with the Ukrainians (not that any of them have actually committed to doing anything that might undermine the war effort), Russia’s position remains unassailable.
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  And now, a German economy ministry official has confirmed that despite the sweeping sanctions Imposed on Russia, including the removal of it banks from the SWIFT system, that German companies will still be able to find ways to pay their energy bills to the Russians to keep the gas flowing.
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  read more.

First, we commit to ensuring that a certain number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT.⁰
It will stop them from operating worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 26, 2022

Second, we will paralyse the assets of Russia’s central bank.
 
This will freeze its transactions.
 
And it will make it impossible for the Central Bank to liquidate its assets. pic.twitter.com/8H9eWkNCW9

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 26, 2022

In coordination with 🇺🇸🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇨🇦🇬🇧 I will now propose new measures to EU leaders to strengthen our response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and cripple Putin’s ability to finance his war machine. https://t.co/iU2waDzo9s

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 26, 2022

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