The leaders of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and the European Commission have committed to removing selected Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system as part of efforts to cut off Russia from the international financing system in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
The countries also commit to implementing restrictive measures to limit the Russian Central Bank from fielding its international reserves and launching measures against individuals and entities that facilitate the war in Ukraine and participate in Russian government’s harmful activities, according to a joint statement published Saturday.
Other measures are introducing a transatlantic task force to effectively implement financial sanctions by determining and freezing the assets of sanctioned companies and individuals and stepping coordination efforts to counter disinformation and other types of hybrid warfare.
“Even beyond the measures we are announcing today, we are prepared to take further measures to hold Russia to account for its attack on Ukraine,” the statement reads.
The latest economic measures came days after the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced additional economic sanctions on Russia’s financial institutions and expanded debt and equity prohibitions in light of Ukraine invasion.
