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UKRAINE

Italy and France back blocking Russia from Swift banking system

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, more EU nations on Saturday pledged support for a ban on Russia from a global payments network.

Italy and France back blocking Russia from Swift banking system
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Italian Premier Mario Draghi have both expressed support for banning Russia from the Swift banking system. (Photo by Domenico Stinellis / POOL / AFP)

EU leaders including France and Italy’s prime ministers are moving to exclude Russia from using the Swift banking network, in a bid to step up sanctions on the country.

The move would hit Russian trade as Swift permits rapid cross-border payments and is the main means for financing international business.

Italy’s prime minister Mario Draghi spoke to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday to reiterate that “Italy fully supports and will continue to support the European Union’s line on sanctions against Russia, including those regarding Swift,” the government confirmed in a statement.

EXPLAINED: How Italy could be impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Draghi added that Italy “will provide Ukraine with assistance to defend itself”.

Ukraine’s president welcomed the phone call with Italy’s political leader, stating that it marked a a “beginning” between Ukraine and Italy.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba wrote in a tweet that the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, also showed support for piling financial pressure on Russia by banning it from the Swift financial system.

READ ALSO: How life in France could be impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine

From their phone call, he claimed that France says it’s “ready to supply weapons and military equipment to help Ukraine defend itself”.

The fresh support for this sanction marks a U-turn for some EU leaders as Italy, Germany and other European nations were heavily criticised on Thursday for their reservations about cutting Russia off from the Swift international payments system.

Former European Council President Donald Tusk hit back on Friday, saying some EU governments had “disgraced themselves” by blocking “tough decisions”.

READ ALSO: Is Italy pushing to exclude luxury goods sales to Russia from EU sanctions?

Germany has expressed a lukewarm response to banning Russia from Swift payments, by suggesting it is open to the idea but needs to calculate the economic impact first, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday.

Russia launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine on Thursday, to which the EU has since responded by announcing various sanctions against Russia.

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UKRAINE

France charges two Moldovans over coffin graffiti in Paris

French prosecutors on Saturday charged two Moldovans suspected of painting coffins and a slogan urging an end to Ukraine war on the facade of a prominent Paris newspaper, a judicial source said.

France charges two Moldovans over coffin graffiti in Paris

It was just the latest in a series of such acts in the capital in recent weeks. French officials have repeatedly warned of the risks of disinformation and other attacks by Russia over France’s support for Kyiv.

Tension between Paris and Moscow has increased since President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this year he had not ruled out sending troops to Ukraine.

The two men, who carried Moldovan passports, were arrested overnight Thursday-Friday after six red coffins and the phrase “Stop the Death, Mriya, Ukraine” were painted on the building of right-wing daily Le Figaro. Mriya means “dream” in Ukrainian.

They are being held on charges of destruction of property and participating in “an effort to demoralise the army to harm national defence in peacetime”, the source said.

Six similar coffins were found early Thursday on the facade of the Agence France-Presse headquarters in central Paris, not far from the Figaro offices.

A source close to the case said the two Moldovans claimed to have been paid around €100 to paint the graffiti.

A separate investigations has been opened after graffiti showing French Mirage fighter jets in the form of coffins were found last Tuesday in three districts of Paris. They included the phrase “Mirages for Ukraine”.

Similar graffiti was discovered on the walls of the AFP building Monday.

Macron announced in early June that France would send Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine and train their Ukrainian pilots as part of a new military cooperation with Kyiv.

On June 8, French police said they were holding three young Moldovans suspected of being behind inscriptions of coffins in Paris with the slogan “French soldiers in Ukraine”.

They were later charged with property damage and released.

Moldova’s Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi posted on X, formerly Twitter: “We regret and firmly condemn the incident”.

He said the “vandalism” was “part of hybrid tactics to harm our international image”.

Popsoi reiterated his comment on Saturday, denouncing an “instigation to hate”.

“We call on Moldovan citizens to be vigilant and not to allow themselves to be manipulated to the detriment of our country.”

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