CNN
On Saturday, Germany, which had earlier warned of the “massive impact” on German business if Russia were banned from SWIFT, indicated support for restrictions in some form.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and German economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a joint tweet that they are “under high pressure to avoid collateral damage when decoupling (Russia) from SWIFT so it will hit the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional constraint of SWIFT.”
Earlier in the day, Italy signaled that it would also support taking measures to expel Russia from SWIFT after Prime Minister Mario Draghi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that “Italy fully supports the European Union’s line on sanctions against Russia, including those regarding SWIFT, and shall continue to do so.”
Draghi’s comments are particularly notable given the Italian economy’s exposure on energy.
One administration official said additional sanctions were likely to come if Kyiv, the besieged Ukrainian capital, fell. But it wasn’t clear if that would include SWIFT, or whether removing Russia from SWIFT might happen before.