Reuters, among other media, drew attention to a story in the German business daily Handelsblatt yesterday, which reported that Western governments have decided to rule out barring Russia from use of the SWIFT international payments system as one of the “never before seen” sanctions being threatened, should Russia “invade” Ukraine. According to RT’s account of the story, Handelsblatt wrote that the U.S. and Germany are instead discussing the application of “targeted” sanctions against large Russian banks and that the question of sanctions would be discussed when Secretary of State Blinken meets Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Jan. 20 in Berlin.
Evidently, saner heads in Germany recognize that the European economy would be incinerated, if the so-called “financial nuclear option” of denying Russia access to the Western financial system were to be implemented.
An unnamed spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council denied the Handelsblatt story yesterday, telling reporters that “no option is off the table. We continue consulting very closely with European counterparts on severe consequences for Russia if it further invades Ukraine.” A “German government source close to the matter” told Reuters that he/she could not confirm the Handelsblatt story, saying, “It is not decided yet.”
