Russia edges closer to being banned from Swift banking system as more EU countries support move

Russia could be kicked out of the global banking system Swift as more EU countries said they favored it.

The news comes as countries vow to impose harsher economic and financial sanctions on Russia.

Swift was launched in 1973 to serve as a neutral platform for banks to chat about financial transfers, transactions and trades. Ben Winck reported that removing Russia could be catastrophic.

More than 11,000 financial institutions are linked through the service. It hosted 42 million messages a day in 2021.

Some countries have begun to change their minds about Russia being removed from Swift.

Germany's foreign minister said earlier on Friday that she did not believe a ban was the best course of action. The news agency said that the finance minister of Germany said that they were open, but they had to know what they were doing.

Italy, Cyprus, and Hungary seem to be encouraging the Swift ban.

The 27 EU countries would have to agree on barring Moscow from the Swift system.

EU countries support a Swift ban for Russia according to the foreign minister of Ukraine.

He called his Italian counterpart and said: "Call with my Italian counterpart." There is full solidarity with Ukraine. My colleague told me that Italy would support banning Russia from the international money transfer service.

The ex-prime minister of Italy confirmed the news on his account.

This was followed by a statement on Cyprus' position. Kuleba said that they did it. Cyprus will not block the decision to ban Russia.

In the name of EU unity and solidarity to the Ukrainian people, Cyprus has not objected to any EU sanctions, according to the finance minister. Everything is on the table.

The prime minister of Poland made it clear that Hungary had a stance. He spoke with the Prime Minister of Hungary. He once again assured me of his support for the sanctions against Russia. Including about blocking the system.

Boris Johnson is the prime minister of the UK and he favors kicking Russia out of the Swift system. The US is yet to match its support for such a move.