“This will really be the test: Does Fortress Russia crash when you have assets that may be frozen abroad?” said Daniel Tannebaum, a partner at Oliver Wyman who advises banks on sanctions.
At the moment, US and European officials are not ready to isolate all Russian banks from it Swift, is the Belgian money transfer system used by more than 11,000 financial institutions worldwide. But a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Thursday that such action was not on the table. In Europe, governments differ on whether to separate Russia from Swift.
US officials are not currently planning to cause major disruptions to Russia’s energy exports, which are the mainstay of the country’s economy. Europe is dependent on products, and world leaders do not want to raise oil and gas prices, although Germany has stopped Nord Stream 2 Gas pipeline project this week.
European Union leaders met in Brussels on Thursday night and studied the details of proposed sanctions that they insist would deal a severe blow to the Russian economy.
But documents seen by the New York Times indicated that the bloc, which has close financial ties with Russia and shares a border with Ukraine, is likely to delay many tough decisions, despite calls from Poland, the Netherlands and the Baltic states for a tough line. approach.
“Enough cheap talk,” said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who has already received Ukrainians fleeing the war. He added, “Like Europe and the European Union, we buy a lot of Russian gas and a lot of Russian oil. President Putin takes money from us Europeans. He turns this into aggression.”
Contribute to reporting Matina Stevis Gridnev from brussels, Alan Rabeport from Washington Motoko Rich from Tokyo and Yan Chuang From Melbourne, Australia.
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