French Economy minister Bruno Le Maire, right, talks with President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde as they pose for a photo during a European Finance Ministers meeting, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Paris. European Union leaders put on a united front after a six-hour meeting that went into early Friday morning, during which they agreed on a second package of economic and financial sanctions against Russia.Francois Mori/The Associated Press
The West is under mounting pressure to take stronger measures against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, after the world’s wealthy democracies failed to kick Moscow out of the SWIFT system of international payments and omitted other tough actions from sanctions packages announced this week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with legislators in the United States and Europe, called on leaders to make good on preinvasion promises of unprecedented economic pain for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he attacked Ukraine.
Besieged by Russian forces attacking Kyiv, Mr. Zelensky on Friday called for the West to exclude Russia from SWIFT, impose an oil embargo, revoke travel visas for Russians and recall ambassadors. In a video message, the President chided “the indecision of politicians” and said Ukraine’s allies “must act without delay.”
“This is not just Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, this is the beginning of the war against Europe. Against the unity of Europe. Against the elementary human rights of Europe. Against all co-existence rules on the continent,” Mr. Zelensky said. “But we do not see in full what you are going to do. How are you going to protect yourself when you help us so slowly in Ukraine?”
Russia-Ukraine live updates: Zelensky says he’s ‘number one target’ as troops push in to Kyiv
Why is Russia invading Ukraine? What Putin’s troops have done so far in Kyiv, Donbas and beyond
The U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and several other countries on Thursday announced sanctions on Russian banks, oligarchs and technology exports. EU foreign ministers told reporters in Brussels on Friday that they would also freeze European assets belonging to Mr. Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.
But the measures did not block Russian exports of oil and natural gas or prohibit Western companies from doing business with Russia. They also allowed Russia to remain part of SWIFT, which banks depend on for performing cross-border transactions and Moscow uses to collect the fossil-fuel royalty payments that fund its government.
But the measures did not personally impose sanctions on Mr. Putin, block Russian exports of oil and natural gas or prohibit Western companies from doing business with Russia. They also allowed Russia to remain part of SWIFT, which banks depend on for performing cross-border transactions and Moscow uses to collect the fossil fuel royalty payments that fund its government.
The EU, led by Germany, was most opposed to going further. Both U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said they couldn’t ban Russia from SWIFT because European countries wouldn’t agree to it. The EU trades significantly with Moscow, including importing Russian oil and gas and making payments through SWIFT.
In a statement distributed through diplomatic channels, the Ukrainian government thanked the allies for imposing sanctions, but said they had to go further.
“We appreciate sanctions imposed by a number of countries of the world … especially the strongest sanctions already imposed by the U.S. and the U.K., which will severely undermine Russia’s economic and financial capacities to continue its aggression,” the statement said. “We expect the EU to join the comprehensive bank sanctions and to include SWIFT into the package.”
Donald Tusk, the leader of the largest conservative party in the European Parliament and a former president of the European Council, laced into the countries that had watered down the sanctions package.
“In this war everything is real: Putin’s madness and cruelty, Ukrainian victims, bombs falling on Kyiv. Only your sanctions are pretended,” he wrote on Twitter. “Those EU governments which blocked tough decisions (ie. Germany, Hungary, Italy) have disgraced themselves.”
NATO leaders will hold an emergency summit Friday, which could provide another opportunity to discuss sanctions.
Canadian officials this week have avoided saying whether the federal government favours excluding Russia from SWIFT.
In the U.S., both Mr. Biden’s allies and opposition put pressure on him to do more.
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that “there is more that we can and should do” to impose “maximum costs” on Mr. Putin. He said the U.S. and its allies should kick Russia out of SWIFT, impose sanctions on the Russian central bank and the country’s industries and pursue assets held by Mr. Putin and his circle.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican Senator on the committee, said the U.S. should move forward with stronger measures itself rather than deferring to Europe.
“We should not be seeking permission from allies to go after Putin and his cronies. We should move ahead forcefully against Putin, a war criminal, and demand our allies join us!” he tweeted.
The sanctions announced on Thursday cut major Russian banks out of American and British financial markets, and froze assets of VTB, Russia’s second largest bank. They also barred exports of high-tech products such as semiconductors to Russia.
But they did not touch major Western investments in Russia.
BP PLC and France’s Total SA, for instance, both have oil interests in Russia, while Western investors such as the California teachers’ pension fund hold shares in Russian state enterprises, including gas company Gazprom.
On top of European reluctance to go further, Mr. Biden also cited an unwillingness to impose sanctions that might cause economic pain in the U.S.
The President said the sanctions were designed to “minimize the impact on the United States and our allies.” He specifically cited fears over higher gas prices at a time when the U.S. is already grappling with high inflation.
“I know this is hard and that Americans are already hurting. I will do everything in my power to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House.
He insisted that the banking sanctions were of “equal consequence” to excluding Russia from SWIFT, but said such a move was still on the table.
“It is always an option. But right now, that’s not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take,” he said.
SWIFT, based in Belgium, is used for international money transfers including paying for traded goods.
Without it, Russian banks would incur significant costs in time and money doing these transactions directly or using a smaller, alternative system, such as one set up by China. It could be particularly difficult for the government treasury, which depends heavily on oil and gas revenues and processes many of those payments through SWIFT.
Mr. Zelensky, meanwhile, called on citizens of all countries to put pressure on their governments to fight back against Russia.
“While state institutions in Europe are in no hurry with really strong decisions, every European in the capital can already come to our embassy and offer assistance,” he said. “Demand from your governments more financial, more military assistance to Ukraine.”
In response to the Feb. 24 attacks on Ukraine, Canada’s new sanctions target a number of individuals and entities, including Russian elites and members of the Russian Security Council. In addition, all export permits to Russia have been cancelled or denied. This amounts to hundreds of permits worth more than $7-million, says Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.