There have long been calls in the West to disconnect Russia from the SWIFT payment system. The son of one of US foreign policy ideologues Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jan made the same suggestion.
"Now we can take certain economic measures, such as delaying payments for gas or oil. Or disconnect Russia from SWIFT for a few days as a warning strike," Jan Brzezinski, a 2001-2005 Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, told the YouTube channel Open Ukraine.
According to him, a combined approach is needed to contain Russia. Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, called russophobic the appeals to disconnect Russia from SWIFT. "Russia will take appropriate efforts in response to this information attack," he told RT in a commentary.
Dmitry Birchevsky, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department, noted in August that Moscow sees no threat in disconnecting from SWIFT. He noted that work is underway in Russia to create an alternative to the international payment system, but did not name the completion date.
CNN reported two days earlier that the White House is considering the option of disconnecting Russia from SWIFT.