Calls intensify to ban Russia from Swift as PM says it is ‘not off table’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has renewed calls for Russian banks to be cut out of Swift, a type of international bank sort code, as the Prime Minister said the move is not off the table.

Speaking in the Commons, Sir Keir called for the “hardest possible sanctions” on Vladimir Putin’s regime.

“It must be isolated, its finances frozen, its ability to function crippled. That means excluding Russia from the financial mechanisms like Swift and banning trade in Russian sovereign debt,” he said.

Mr Johnson said: “I know that this House will have great interest in the potential of cutting Russia out from Swift. I can confirm, as I’ve always said, nothing is off the table.”

Proponents say excluding Putin and his banks from the system will have a huge impact on their ability to operate abroad.

The Swift system is set up to make it possible for people or companies to take payments by card or electronically even if they do not use the same bank.

Each bank gets a unique ID number, which identifies which country they are in, and the city and bank branch.

Removing Russia would not stop the country’s banks from making payments across borders but would make it a lot more complex and costly. It would also make it harder for the country to sell its oil and gas, which make up a huge portion of its trade.

Iranian banks were cut off from the system over the country’s nuclear programme in 2012 before being reconnected in 2016 as relations thawed.

According to the Financial Times, the Prime Minister has been pushing hard for Russia to be removed from Swift.

But German chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that his country and the EU would not support such a major move, the newspaper reported.

The EU is still working on a united line to take in terms of whether to shut Russia off from Swift, with some more inclined than others.

Mr Johnson is said to be keen but recognises it would need a united effort around the globe to be a successful sanction.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko called for Russia to be blocked from Swift, echoing the opinions of his president.