In spite of today’s earlier news that Germany and Italy were/ are against banning Russia from the SWIFT banking system, Portugal’s finance minister João Leão has confirmed this afternoon that EU counterparts are “studying the implications for Europe from excluding Russia nonetheless. He has not revealed Portugal’s position in this regard, describing the measure as a ‘nuclear weapon’ in terms of the effects it would have on the financial system. Mr Leão comments come as Vladimir Putin issued a warning of ‘military implications’ to both Sweden and Finland if either decide to go the same way as Ukraine (meaning if either consider joining NATO). Both countries have always strained to remain neutral precisely because of Russia’s stance, but were present today at the extraordinary meeting of NATO convened to discuss developing military action.
