Von der Leyen Calls for Disconnecting Russia from SWIFT Banking System

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged, on Wednesday, the 27-nation bloc to ban oil imports from Russia in the sixth package of sanctions targeting Moscow amid the war in Ukraine.

Von der Leyen also proposed that Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and two other major banks be disconnected from the SWIFT international banking payment system.

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, the EU leader called on the EU’s member nations to phase out imports of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year.

“We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimizes the impact on global markets,” von der Leyen said.

Furthermore, she pointed out that getting all 27 member countries — some of them landlocked and highly dependent on Russia for energy supplies — to agree on oil sanctions “will not be easy.”