Blinken: 'Key Russian banks will be cut off'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday night that key Russian banks will be cut off from the international SWIFT system.

In a statement issued after world leaders decided to cut off Russian financial institutions from using the SWIFT money transfer system, Blinken said, “As a result of Putin’s war on Ukraine, we join with leaders of EU, France, Germany, Italy, UK and Canada to ensure key sanctioned Russian banks are disconnected from SWIFT, impose restrictions on Russian Central Bank, and further identify and freeze assets of sanctioned Russians.