France is in favor of excluding Russia from the Swift banking system, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday in order to sanction Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, while Germany has shown a little less closes the idea.
Some member states have expressed reservations, France is not one of these states, said the minister during a press conference as part of a meeting bringing together EU finance ministers Bercy.
There must be a European consensus, he continued, to justify the absence of this nuclear weapon to finance the arsenal of Western sanctions against Moscow.
This is the very last option, said the minister a little earlier on Friday.
Germany, which has shown itself to be firm on the idea in recent days because it fears having to face serious difficulties over Russian gas transactions, watered down its wine during a press conference Friday.
I said we also need to consider instruments beyond the latest sanctions package, including Swift, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said after a meeting with his European counterparts.
If we achieve this exclusion, will this then be the trigger that will lead Russia to stop its gas deliveries because they can no longer be paid for?, he asked.
Asking about the consequences does not mean that we are not ready to assume them, he further said.
The European finance ministers have also asked the European Commission and the European Central Bank to assess the consequences of an even greater cut off for Russian institutions from access to the financial system, according to a press release published on Friday.
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All the options are on the table, this document also specifies, the conclusions of which could be made in the coming hours.
I saw a unanimous agreement of the ministers to entrust this mission to the European Commission and the European Central Bank which could lead to the exclusion of Russia Swift, said Friday Paolo Gentiloni, the European commissioner for the economy, on BFM Business.
Swift is one of the largest banking and financial messaging networks, enabling interbank settlements between financial institutions worldwide.