Russian Banks Say They Can Weather Sanctions

Russia’s sanctioned banks said Friday (Feb. 25) that they have enough liquidity to meet client demand and are working to make it through the crisis.

According to Reuters, the banks issued a joint statement, noting there were no restrictions on their ATMs or branches.

The statement came one day after sweeping sanctions were imposed by the U.S. and several other nations in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Also on Thursday, Russian lender VTB said it would limit the use of its cards outside Russia, and told customers in other countries to withdraw funds or pay through different banks.

VTB said all cards, Mastercard and Visa included, would still be functional within Russia and that it would not limit its currency exchange operations.

The sanctions imposed Thursday target the Russian economy as well as the assets and incomes of certain wealthy Russians with ties to President Vladimir Putin.

The sanctions stopped short of barring Russia from the SWIFT payments system — a measure proposed by political leaders in the U.K. and the U.S. as well as Ukraine’s president. U.S. President Biden said such a step remains a possibility.

Read more: UK PM Boris Johnson Wants Russia Booted From SWIFT

“It is always an option, but right now that’s not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take,” he said.

“The sanctions we imposed exceed anything that’s ever been done,” Biden continued. “The sanctions we imposed have generated two-thirds of the world joining us. They are profound sanctions.”

If Russia were removed from SWIFT, the country would be cut off from most international financial transactions, including its largest profit center, oil and gas production, which accounts for more than 40% of the country’s revenue.

Biden has argued that, taken together, the sanctions are “more consequential” than the “nuclear option” of removing Russia from much of the global financial system.