The 27 member states of the European Union gave the green light to ban the broadcasting of the Russian media outlets “Sputnik” and “RT” on the bloc’s territory, and to exclude “some Russian banks” from the “Swift” system, according to what France announced, which holds the rotating presidency of the union.
The member states in Brussels also approved a ban on European participation in projects financed by the Russian sovereign Direct Investment Fund, reports Al-Rai daily quoting AFP.
These measures will enter into force after the decision is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, where the banks covered by the decision will be identified.
The United States and its Western allies are seeking to tighten the screws on the Russian banking sector and the Russian currency through a series of sanctions, including excluding Russian banks from the SWIFT system, and thus isolating them from the global financial system.
The “Swift” system provides fast and secure communication between banks with regard to financial transactions, and excluding Russia from it would prevent it from doing business with the rest of the world.
Western measures banning dealing with the Russian Central Bank have plunged the country’s economy into more chaos.
The ruble has lost 27% of its value against the US currency since the beginning of the year, and is currently trading at its lowest level at 100 rubles per dollar.
As a result, the Russians are interested in cryptocurrencies that are traded in decentralized networks, and therefore are not directly affected by the sanctions.
The member states decided to ban the media content of “Sputnik” and the broadcast of the channel “RT” in English, German, French and Spanish on television and on the Internet, on the European Union territory.
On Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union would ban “the Kremlin’s media machine.”
The state media, RT and Sputnik, as well as their affiliates, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and sow division in our nation. We are therefore developing tools to prevent their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”
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