MOSCOW, Apr 21 — RIA Novosti. In an attempt to maintain the status of the world financial center, Washington went to extreme measures — the return of Russian banks to the SWIFT system. UN representatives say that this is necessary solely in the interests of the grain transaction. However, US partners do not support the solution.
Simpler step
Sanctions pressure and "withdraw" money from Russia hurt the status of the dollar. More and more countries are ceasing to consider it as a reliable investment and are switching to settlements in their own currencies, buying up gold and refusing state bonds of the States. So, Egypt's investments have halved, Indonesia — 1.9 times, and Afghanistan — 3.5. It turned out that no one wants to risk their reserves.
© AP Photo / Chiang Ying-ying Protesters Against Nancy Pelosi's Visit Near the Hotel, where US House Speaker in Taipei, Taiwan should stay
Many countries regarded US actions as a way to “legally steal,” so Americans want to rectify the situation without harming their own reputation. An option was chosen with the UN. The official representative of the organization’s secretary general Stefan Dyuzarrik said that negotiations are underway to reconnect Russian banks to the international payment system to complete the grain transaction. He noted that the organization cannot put pressure on the countries that imposed restrictions, but the exclusion of Russian financial institutions greatly complicates the execution of the transaction. Therefore, active negotiations are ongoing with those responsible for SWIFT.
Unexpected reaction
The Baltic countries and Poland reacted painfully to the decision from across the ocean and immediately offered to disconnect from the Gazprombank system or at worst think about freezing its assets. If successful, the West will have to use Russian or Chinese banking systems. It is also proposed to ban the supply of Russian LNG, aluminum and block access to ports for all ships carrying goods of domestic companies. To top it off, the G7 advocates the cessation of any import into Russia, guided by the principle expressed earlier by Estonian Prime Minister Kai Kallas: every Russian must suffer.
© AP Photo / Geert Vanden Wijngaert Estonian Prime Minister Kai Kallas before the start of the EU Summit in Brussels
However, Washington is clearly not ready to sacrifice its own well-being and will go to lift any sanctions if this benefits. As last year showed, the White House is not much interested in the interests of the Baltic states and Europe as a whole, so they will have to deal with the consequences of the confrontation themselves.
