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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday did not rule out allowing Russian banks to rejoin the SWIFT international payment messaging system as negotiations continue on an end to the war in Ukraine.
But the White House would need backing from Europe to restart it.
“There would be a long discussion about many things in terms of the proper way to bring Russia back into the international system,” Bessent told Fox News news anchor Martha MacCallum. “But I think this is premature to discuss the terms of a deal before we have a deal.”
The Biden administration helped lead the push to remove some of Russia’s largest banks from SWIFT, an international system that allows financial institutions from all over the world to communicate transaction information, shortly after the country invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
Russia has pushed for one of its top banks, Rosselkhozbank, to be reconnected to the system in exchange for the implementation of a cease-fire in the Black Sea.
“I think everything is on the table,” Bessent told MacCallum. “And as you mentioned, part of the national security effort that Treasury does is through the financial operations, is through our sanctions, is through sanctioning individuals, banks or countries.”
But the European Union, which to this point has largely been frozen out of peace talks and which has central banks that are among the institutions that oversee the SWIFT system, would effectively need to approve of letting Russian banks back in.
And the bar is high. Anitta Hipper, European Commission spokesperson for foreign affairs, told POLITICO “the end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions.”
Bessent also told MacCallum he hopes the White House and Kyiv will be able to sign the two sides’ long-awaited minerals agreement next week. Ukrainian negotiators are currently reviewing the completed document, he said.
“I’m sure that we will move along and get this signed quickly,” he said.
Giovanna Faggionato contributed to this report.
