With Vladimir Putin intensifying Russia’s assault on Ukraine, the civilized world is finding creative ways to tighten the screws on Putin and make him pay.
One way is by going after Russian oligarchs’ physical assets, money, and toys.
The U.S. issued a joint statement with their allies that they will form a task force to go after assets of rich Russian oligarchs living in the jurisdictions connected with America and their partners.
In other words, billionaire friends of Putin living in London, the United States, Paris, Germany, Italy, Canada, and other cities will see their lives become pretty uncomfortable.
Here’s what a U.S. administration official told Fox News.
”We’ll go after their yachts, their luxury apartments, their money, and their ability to send their kids to fancy colleges in the West. We’re disarming fortress Russia by taking this action.”
The phrase “golden passports” refers to the sale of documents that allow wealthy Russians and Russians connected with Putin to gain access to the West’s financial systems – those are going away too.
Also, select Russian banks will be removed from the SWIFT financial system, which could inflict immediate pain on the Russian economy. Here’s more from a joint U.S. statement released with their allies.
“If one of these de-SWIFTED and Russian banks wants to make or receive a payment with a bank outside of Russia, such as a bank in Asia, it will now need to use the telephone or a fax machine. And in all likelihood most banks around the world will simply stop transacting altogether with Russian banks that are removed from SWIFT.”
SWIFT provides messaging services to banks in over 200 countries and is controlled by the central banks of the G-10, including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, and Sweden.
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