Such is the shock over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that western sanctions have gone much further than seemed likely even a week ago. Not only have several Russian banks been barred from the Swift messaging network, but the EU, US and UK have placed sanctions on Russia’s central bank, sharply reducing access to its foreign currency reserves. These moves will not stop Vladimir Putin’s war in its tracks. But they will put huge pressure on the Russian economy, and squeeze over time the Kremlin’s capacity to wage its war.
俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭引發了如此大的震驚,以至于西方現在的制裁力度之大在一周前還是不可想象的。不僅數家俄羅斯銀行被禁止使用環球銀行金融電訊協會(Swift)通訊網絡,歐盟、美國和英國還對俄羅斯央行實施了制裁,大幅減少了其可動用的外匯儲備。這些舉措不會阻止弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)的戰爭繼續進行。但它們將給俄羅斯經濟帶來巨大壓力,并逐漸擠壓克里姆林宮發動戰爭的能力。