MOSCOW, 21 Apr - RIA Novosti. In an attempt to maintain its status as a global financial center, Washington has taken extreme measures: Russian banks will be reconnected to the SWIFT system. United Nations officials say this is only necessary in the interests of the grain agreement. US partners, however, do not support the decision.
Sanctions pressure and the "taking" of money from Russia has damaged the status of the dollar. More and more countries no longer see the dollar as a safe investment and are switching to payments in their own currencies, buying up gold and rejecting US government bonds. For instance, Egypt's holdings have halved, Indonesia's by 1.9 times and Afghanistan's by 3.5 times. It appears no one wants to risk their reserves.
Many countries saw the US actions as a way to justify "legal stealing". The Americans now want to rectify the situation without damaging their own reputation. The UN option has been chosen.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the organization's secretary-general, said negotiations are under way to reconnect Russian banks to the international payment system to implement the grain agreement. He noted that the organization cannot put pressure on countries that have imposed restrictions, but the exclusion of Russian financial institutions greatly complicates the implementation of the agreement. Therefore, active negotiations with those in charge of SWIFT are ongoing.
The Baltic states and Poland reacted painfully to the decision from across the ocean and immediately proposed to cut Gazprombank off from the system or at least consider freezing its assets. If that succeeds, the West will have to use the Russian or Chinese banking systems. It also proposes banning Russian LNG and aluminum shipments and denying access to ports to all ships carrying goods from domestic companies. On top of this, the G7 calls for a halt to all imports into Russia, based on the principle previously expressed by Estonian Prime Minister Kai Kallas: every Russian must suffer.
However, Washington is clearly unwilling to sacrifice its own well-being and will agree to lift sanctions if it benefits itself. As the past year has shown, the White House has little interest in the interests of the Baltic states and Europe as a whole, so they will have to deal with the consequences of the confrontation on their own.
NOTE :
Briefly back in time. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the USA and the EU imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia, including 1) the freezing of all Russian dollar accounts holding several billions in assets and 2) the exclusion of the SWIFT payment system, which works with a the dollar as standard currency. This was the stupidest thing they could have done. By excluding the SWIFT payment system and blocking all foreign dollar accounts, Russia could no longer trade in dollars.
So Putin started trading petroleum and gas in rubles, which was accepted by all interested parties. Even the EU - by necessity - had no choice but to comply with Russia's demands to still buy gas.
One year on, it appears that more and more countries are joining BRIC and trading in the Chinese Yuan and Russian rubles. The US sees the dark clouds hanging : this means the end of the dollar as a reserve currency.
Now it is trying to save the sunken ship last minute by allowing Russian banks back into the SWIFT payment system which they will obviously accept because it suits them but only to the extent that it suits them. Either way, the US dollar will eventually cease to be the sole reserve currency.
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