tirsdag 15. mars 2022

Can China’s SWIFT Alternative Give Russia a Lifeline?

“Apply this economic, peaceful, silent, deadly remedy and there will be no need for force.” Following World War I and the subsequent creation of the League of Nations, President Woodrow Wilson used these words to describe the impact of sanctions. Certainly, times have changed.

Following the 2014 invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Russia was the target of many such sanctions. And now, following a full-scale invasion into its neighbor Ukraine beginning on February 24, Russia has once again been pummeled with coordinated sanctions from the United States and the European Union, among other nations. The United States’ sanctions included export controls, direct sanctions on military and political targets, and financial sanctions against two of Russia’s largest banks: Sberbank and VTB Bank.