“What sanctions could the US hit Russia with if it invades Ukraine?”
(Website The Guardian, 7 December 2021).
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine rises, Biden threatens to exclude Russia from SWIFT. It is remarkable that Biden threatens to use SWIFT, all the more because SWIFT is a Belgian company, albeit with a data center in the USA. Biden could also have threatened to cut Russia off from the dollar, as the Americans are doing with Iran.
Sanctions, especially financial sanctions, can certainly help countries get back on track. But we also see with broad and long-term sanctions huge negative impact on the population of that country, see Iran and North Korea, unforntunately the regimes there remain undisturbed.
If SWIFT is used as a sanction, the sanction will be very broad. It does not only affect the relationship between America and Russia or the dollar and Russia, but no party can then have payments in any currency with Russia.
Read the article on the website of The Guardian
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