The Latest Breaking News from SWIFT

Canada, the United States, Britain and the European Union on Friday said they could act to exclude Russia from the SWIFT global interbank payments system in a further round of sanctions aimed at halting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Some of Wall Street’s largest banks told lawmakers and the Biden administration that kicking Russia off the SWIFT financial-messaging system would have far-reaching fallout that could hurt the global economy and undermine the purpose of the penalties, people familiar with the matter said.

The Biden administration, in extraordinary and rapid cooperation with allies over a period of three days, has doubled down on its vow to impose “severe sanctions” against Russia for its military aggression against Ukraine.

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, targeting major banks and members of the elite coupled with new export control measures.

Ukraine news from February 26: UN says internal displacement also growing as Ukraine forces battle all-round assault.

The European Union could exclude Russia from the SWIFT global interbank payments system in a fresh round of sanctions, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Friday.

The package of banking sanctions that the European Union is imposing will hit Russian President Vladimir Putin's government harder than excluding Russia from the SWIFT payments system, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

Halyna Yanchenko broke down in tears during an emotional interview with CBS as she called on the global community to ‘be courageous’ against Russia

Italy would not veto proposals to ban Russia from the SWIFT global interbank payment system, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday.

The UK and the EU issued personal sanctions against the Russian President as western intelligence said Ukraine's 'strong resistance' to invasion left them targeting the Ukraine president to force a swift surrender.

The EU foreign ministers approve sanctions described as the harshest ever imposed by the bloc.