Aiding Ukraine to protect its sovereignty - The West’s role

• The US and EU have put up sanctions against Russia’s financial institutions

• Blocking Russia from the SWIFT system is still on hold 

Thursday’s events marked a violent upturn in history as Russia began attacking Ukraine, with explosions reported in several key cities including Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Mariupol.

President Vladimir Putin declared the beginning of a “special military operation” calling it the “demilitarization” of Ukraine. These developments are a transgression of a simmering, yet imminent war after Russia began ramping up military forces near the eastern Ukrainian border.

Also Read: Ukraine’s government websites and banks hit by cyber attack

Fighting Russia with its limited resources is a cat-herding exercise for Ukraine, which is why the Ukrainian government has been repeatedly requesting the West and European Union for external military support to stop the Russian invasion.

What has the West done?

President Joe Biden ruled out military action long back, making sanctions the key weapon that the West could use to stop Putin.

The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on two Russian banks Promsvyazbank and VEB bank. Bank Rossiya has been under US sanctions since 2014 for its close ties to Kremlin officials. 

Read more: US to bar American entities from engaging with Russian banks if Ukraine is invaded

The US has ramped up prohibitions on Russian sovereign debt to cut off Western financing. The US Treasury will be extending current prohibitions to cover participation in the secondary market for bonds issued after March 1 by Russia's Central Bank and other entities.

President Biden also imposed sanctions on the company responsible for building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Germany put the project on hold on Tuesday.

Read more: Germany puts on hold gas pipeline amid Russia-Ukraine crisis

Britain imposed sanctions on Gennady Timchenko and two other billionaires with close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and on five banks - Rossiya, IS Bank, GenBank, Promsvyazbank, and the Black Sea Bank.

European foreign ministers agreed to sanction 27 individuals and entities. These include banks financing Russian decision-makers and operations in the breakaway territories, along with members of the Russian lower house who voted in favor of recognition of the two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

All these measures can barely scratch the surface as all the sanctions focus on small lenders. The West hasn’t entirely cut off the flow of capital to Moscow.

What can the West do?

Apart from financing and supporting Ukraine with arms and ammunition the West needs to put up strict measures to disassociate itself from Russia’s attack on a sovereign nation. 

The first move would be to cripple Russian finances would be to oust Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system. The SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative, formed in 1973, that provides safe and secure financial transactions for its members. 

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) reports that European lenders hold the majority share of nearly $30 billion in foreign banks' exposure to Russia.

The move which has been recommended by many analysts could come with repercussions as many European creditors would find it difficult to get their money back and Russia has been building up an alternative payment system.

Technology ban

Cutting off Russia’s access to key technologies such as semiconductors is the next step. President Biden has announced that new sanctions would follow after those placed on financial institutions. The next round is likely to target Russia’s military and economy — putting semiconductors in the focus.

Also read: Russia-linked crypto addresses received 74% of ransomware revenue in 2021

The majority of the semiconductor companies including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, and GlobalFoundries are based in the US, while European chipmakers include Infineon and STMicro. With TSMC and Samsung in Taiwan and South Korea cutting off supplies in a utopian scenario, Russia’s only option would be sourcing chips from China whose semiconductors aren’t as advanced as the rest.

The looming threat of invasion is no longer a threat but a real crisis and could trigger a domino effect in the European region if not stopped as soon as possible.

Also Read: White House warns for chipmakers to diversify supplies amid tensions with Russia

With inputs from EuroNews and CNBC