MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2020) Removal of Russia from the SWIFT international network is impossible due to a prominent place the country occupies in global financial transactions, Elena Perminova, the first deputy chairwoman of the Russian upper house's committee on budget and financial markets, told Sputnik on Sunday, adding that any calls for such an expulsion were unprofessional.
The comment comes in response to a proposal put forward by Leonid Kravchuk, the head of the Kiev delegation in the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement, to remove Russia from the SWIFT system. He specified that Kiev would demand such a sanction against Moscow after the New Year holidays if the Donbas dispute was not resolved.
"This is a completely frivolous and unprofessional proposal, all these are empty threats. The exclusion of Russia from this system [SWIFT] is unrealistic. Our country has a very significant place in it," Perminova said.
The lawmaker added that proposals to remove Russia from the SWIFT system are voiced occasionally.
"But, I am convinced, they will not be implemented," Perminova said.
Relations between Moscow and Kiev have deteriorated in the wake of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and Crimea's reunification with Russia in 2014. Ukraine has since repeatedly accused the Russian authorities of meddling in the country's internal affairs. Moscow has denied any interference claims and slammed them as unacceptable.
