French naval forces intercepted a cargo ship loaded with cars heading to Saint Petersburg, Russia, following sanctions agreed upon by the European Union against Russian officials. French naval sources told AFP on Saturday, "We stopped a Russian ship suspected of being owned by a company targeted by European sanctions in the English Channel." Meanwhile, Russian news agency reported that Russian diplomats are seeking an explanation from French officials regarding the seizure of the Russian cargo ship in the English Channel.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on nations worldwide to isolate Russia, expel its ambassadors, and impose an oil ban following the military operation launched by Moscow in his country last week. Kuleba noted on his Twitter account that the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, faced nighttime Russian attacks, with one missile hitting a residential building in the city.
As American and European leaders considered how far they should go in punishing Russia for its assault on Ukraine, their attention turned to the most divisive— and possibly the most dangerous— weapon at their disposal on Friday. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire described it as a "financial nuclear weapon."
A report by the American newspaper, The Washington Post, noted that this concerns the "Swift" system, the acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which connects over 11,000 financial institutions operating in more than 200 countries and territories. The global financial system is significantly important in the world order, sending approximately 42 million financial messages daily.
Among the proposed sanctions against Russia is isolating it from the "Swift" system, but this has not reached consensus among most Western countries. Eastern European nations and France supported isolating Russia from "Swift," which would severely hinder the Russian economy's ability to conduct business beyond its borders.
Josep Borrell, the head of foreign policy for the EU, acknowledged on Friday that member states of the bloc had not agreed to include the "Swift" system in the sanctions. The newspaper reported that three European officials, who requested anonymity, said Germany and Italy are among the countries that opposed isolating Russia from the system. Germany is concerned about the decision's impact on Russian gas supplies to Europe. French Finance Minister Le Maire stated that isolating Russia from the "Swift" system would be the "last resort" in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
