Germany's initiative on creating a European equivalent of the SWIFT payment system may be of interest to Russian financial authorities, if it becomes more concrete, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2018) Germany's initiative on creating a European equivalent of the SWIFT payment system may be of interest to Russian financial authorities, if it becomes more concrete, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
Last week, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas suggested in an op-ed for the Handelsblatt newspaper that Europe should set up payment channels independent from the United States and develop its own equivalent of the SWIFT system to shield its companies from US sanctions on Iran. On Monday, the minister said that work was already underway to create such system in Europe, even though it would not be easy.
"If this initiative becomes concrete, it will certainly be of interest to Russian financial authorities," Zakharova told a briefing.
