The US has declared its readiness to reconnect Russia to SWIFT.
The US Treasury Secretary said Washington could connect Russia to SWIFT as part of resolving the Ukraine issue.
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 as part 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 resolution process, the country may ease or tighten sanctions against Russia.
A few years ago, SWIFT was the primary system for processing payments – virtually every banking transaction in the world went through it. But in 2014, when Western countries first threatened to exclude Russia from the system, Russia and several other countries began to develop alternatives. A private financial transfer system emerged in Russia. As of December 1, 2024, more than 580 banks and companies had joined, with over a quarter being non-resident organizations. The Central Bank of Russia noted that the flow continues to grow steadily.
Previously, in a statement regarding the resumption of the Black Sea Initiative following a meeting between the US and Russian delegations in Riyadh, it was stated that the initiative's implementation would resume upon the lifting of sanctions against Rosselkhozbank and other financial institutions involved in guaranteeing international trade in food and fertilizers, connecting them to SWIFT, and opening the necessary linked accounts.
