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The European Union, U.S. and other Western nations announced on Saturday that they would cut off a certain number of Russian banks from the international payments system.

The measures will cut Russia out of the world's most important financial messaging system and undermine the Kremlin's ability to use its central bank reserves to blunt the impact of other sanctions.

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  • The Ukrainians demanded that Western allies cut Russia's access to the financial system in response to the invasion.

  • Germany and Italy were among the European allies that had expressed concern about the consequences of severing Russian banks access to SWIFT.

The U.S., the EU, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and Canada have made commitments on Saturday.

  1. A senior Biden administration official referred to the Iran model when he said that the Russian banks should be disconnected.

  2. The Russian Central Bank has the ability to defend the ruble.

  3. Limit the sale ofgolden passports that allow wealthy Russians to become citizens of Western countries and exploit their financial systems.

  4. In order to make sure the penalties are enforced, a trans-Atlantic task force should be launched.

  5. Coordinate against Russian misinformation and other forms of warfare.

They are saying that they will show that Russia'ssanctions-proofing is a myth. A senior administration official told reporters that the $600 billion war chest of Russia's foreign reserves is only powerful if Putin can use it.

  • Without being able to buy the ruble from Western financial institutions, Putin's Central Bank will lose the ability to offset the impact of our sanctions. The ruble will fall further. The official said that the Central Bank would be left defenseless.

  • We are disarming Russia by taking this action.

  • The official said that the list of Russian banks that will be cut off will be finalized by the EU since the company is based in Belgium.

The sanctions announced by the U.S. and the G7 last week include a freeze on billions of dollars of Russian assets.

  • The EU, U.S. and U.K. imposed sanctions on Russia on Friday.

  • The new sanctions enforcement task force will hunt down the assets of Russian companies that have been blacklisted by the West.

Go deeper.

  • Why does SWIFT matter to Russia?

  • Russia-Ukraine crisis dashboard.

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  • A German government spokesman said on Saturday that Germany and its Western allies agreed to cut Russia out of the global payment system. The sanctions were agreed with the United States, France, Canada, Italy, Great Britain and the European Commission. The golden passports for wealthy Russians and their families will be ended, as well as individuals and institutions in Russia and elsewhere that support the war against Ukraine.

  • Western allies announced sweeping new sanctions against Moscow on Saturday, including kicking some Russian banks off the main global payments system, as a defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were repelling Russian troops. The United States and its European partners said they would impose restrictions on the Russian central bank to limit its ability to support the rouble. As fighting continued across Ukraine, the announcement came.

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  • The United States, European Union and United Kingdom agreed on Saturday to impose sanctions on the Russian financial sector in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The new round of financial sanctions is meant to hold Russia to account and ensure that the war is a failure for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  • In a video message on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed moves to remove Russia from the global financial system. The European Union is close to agreeing to exclude Russia from the international payment system, according to a French presidential official. He welcomed the proposals by Turkey and Azerbaijan to hold peace talks with Russia, as well as the conversation he had with Italy's Prime Minister.

  • France's finance minister said on Friday that the European Union will analyse the consequences of cutting Russia off from the international payments system before deciding whether to use a nuclear weapon. The EU nations decided on a package of sanctions that would cover 70% of the Russian banking market. Some countries are reluctant to cut Russia's access to the SWIFT interbank money transfer network over concerns about how payments for Russian energy imports would be made and whether the EU would get paid.

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  • The restrictions imposed on Russia to block its access to global exports of goods from chips to computers and electronics are likely to accelerate China's own push for self-reliance in the Semiconductor industry, analysts said. Washington announced export restrictions which will force companies making high- and low-tech items overseas with U.S. tools to seek a licence from the United States before shipping to Russia. One of China's top long-term policy goals is to establish independence and self-reliance in the Semiconductor industry.

  • The government ofLithuania said it would ban Russian airlines from using its airspace from 2200 hours on Saturday. The shortest route from mainland Russia to its Kaliningrad exclave is taken by Lithuania.

  • We are watching Shecky Greene transform into the leader of Ukraine.

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  • We are being driven out of everywhere, punished and threatened, but we don't feel scared, according to Medvedev.

  • Ukrainian civilians use their bodies to block Russian tanks.

  • Germany changed its position on Saturday about imposing restrictions on Russia's access to the SWIFT global interbank payment system, joining other Western powers in support of harsher sanctions aimed at stopping Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Germany, which has the EU's biggest trade flows with Russia, had been reluctant to get on board with cutting off Russia from the world's main international payments network.

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  • The U.S. military calls routine activity but which China described as provocative. The 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer was transiting through international waters.

  • Major John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point's Modern War Institute, offered advice to Kyiv volunteers on Saturday.

  • The NATO chief says that the U.S. President and his counterparts have agreed to send parts of the organization's response force to help protect alliance members in Eastern Europe.

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  • Customers of several of the country's largest banks can no longer use their credit and debit cards in conjunction with Apple Pay.

  • Street fighting breaks out as Russian forces advance.

  • Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but will not impose sanctions on Moscow, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday. Serbia is balancing its European ambitions with its centuries-old religious, ethnic and political alliance with Russia. Serbia is under pressure to harmonize its foreign policy with that of the EU, which it wants to join, as tensions between Russia and the EU are rising.

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  • The NATO Response Force was activated for the first time in its history to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

  • The scene of a deadly fire and explosion in 1986 was captured by Russian forces, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that his defenders were giving their lives so that the tragedy wouldn't happen again. The answer is that Chernobyl is on the shortest route from Belarus to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, which is where the Russian forces are invading.

  • A senior Biden administration official said Saturday that Russa has become a global economic and financial pariah.