US says ready to reconnect Russia to SWIFT
US Treasury Secretary says Washington could connect Russia to SWIFT amid Ukraine crisis
According to RIA Novosti, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that Washington is ready to consider Russia's return to the SWIFT International Banking System in the context of resolving the Ukraine crisis.
“Everything is negotiable,” Mr. Bessent replied to a related question.
At the same time, the US Treasury Secretary also clarified that, depending on the progress of the settlement process, the country may ease or tighten sanctions against Russia.
A few years ago, SWIFT was the main system for processing payments - almost all banking transactions in the world went through it. But in 2014, when Western countries first threatened to exclude Russia from the system, Russia and a number of countries began to come up with alternatives. Russia's own financial transfer system has appeared. As of December 1, 2024, more than 580 banks and companies have participated, of which more than a quarter are non-resident organizations. The Central Bank of Russia notes that traffic continues to grow steadily.
Earlier, in the statement on the resumption of the Black Sea Initiative after the meeting of the US and Russian delegations in Riyadh, it was stated that the implementation of the initiative will resume when sanctions are lifted against Rosselkhozbank and other financial institutions involved in ensuring international trade in food and fertilizers, connecting them to SWIFT and opening the necessary associated accounts.
