Germany in favour of 'targeted and functional' SWIFT curbs on Russia
EU also nearing decision on cutting Russia off from Swift
Germany is in favour of imposing "targeted and functional" restrictions on Russia from the SWIFT global interbank payment system, its foreign and economy ministers said on Saturday.
"We are urgently working on how to limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a joint statement.
Germany is the last EU country to drop opposition to the sanction, after Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Hungarian leader Victor Orban signalled their support earlier on Saturday.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was "grateful" to EU nations for the decision.
Meanwhile, discussions among European Union members about excluding Russia from the Swift international payment system are close to reaching a successful conclusion, a French presidential official said on Saturday.
The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said that no EU member state was blocking Russia's exclusion from the system, but that the talks were still ongoing.
