Sanctions Update: Fourth Day of War - 27 February 2022 22:42 (GMT+1)
After announcing on Saturday that the West will impose sanctions on the Russian central bank and cut access to the SWIFT messaging system to certain Russian financial institutions, many analysts have concluded this will have devastating impact on the country’s economy and its ability to utilise the $630 billion of foreign reserves. On the 27th of February 2022, EU’s foreign ministers agreed on banning the transactions of Russia’s central bank whilst Norway decided to sell out its Russian investments in its $1.3 trillion oil fund. In response to the unprecedented sanctions, the Russian central bank decided to start buying gold and President Putin put its nuclear forces on high alert, further heightening the tensions.
Dr Robert Person, an Associate Professor of International Relations at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, has called the sanctions on Russia’s central bank a ‘true nuclear option’ and concluded Putin will not be able to weather the effects for a long time. Many now fear bank runs will follow across the country and in foreign branches of Russian banks. Videos have been floating on social media of people standing in long queues waiting to withdraw their money. In the Czech Republic, the Russian Sberbank has closed its branches in various cities with the reason being increased security risks.