Deputy Treasury Sec’y: Cutting Off Russia from SWIFT ‘Would Be a Temporary Disruption’  

On Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo argued that cutting off Russia from the SWIFT international banking system “would be a temporary disruption” while the actions the Biden administration has already undertaken have “permanently cut them off from parts of the U.S. economy and from the global economy” and limit Russia’s power projection ability into the future.

Host A Martinez asked, [relevant exchange begins around 6:00] “The president has said these measures will have as big an effect or bigger than cutting Russia off from SWIFT. That’s the secure messaging service that connects more than 11,000 financial institutions around the world. Why not just go there, secretary, and cut that off from Vladimir Putin?”

Adeyemo responded, “As I’ve said, all options are on the table. Cutting off SWIFT would be a temporary disruption. What we’ve done is permanently cut them off from parts of the U.S. economy and from the global economy, which is exactly what we’re going to continue to do to limit their ability to project power into the future.”

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