As fighting continues across Ukraine, international efforts to stop the fighting have reached an all time high. Nations all over the world have called for an end to the violence, but death and destruction still are at an all time high. These nations have responded to this Russian violence by punishing them economically. 

Following the invasion, many countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, imposed sanctions on Russian banks, Russian oligarchs, and Russian president Vladimir Putin himself. This caused a chain reaction inside the Russian economy, causing their currency (the rouble) to reach a historic low. These sanctions will cause high inflation in Russia, making it hard for Putin to fund his illegal war. The rouble was already in trouble before the invasion, but since the beginning of February it is 20 percent weaker than where it previously traded. In response to these sanctions, Russia has increased its benchmark interest rate to 20 percent, which could be catastrophic for the country (Reuters).

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he imposed new sanctions on eight Russian oligarchs, and their families. The goal of these new sanctions is to put pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

“Our interest is to maintain the strongest unified campaign on Putin in all of history, and I think we’re really on the way to doing that” Biden said (CNN).

 In addition to sanctions, Western nations, like the United States, are cutting Russia out of the Swift banking system. This is a system in which countries can communicate about cross border transactions quickly and safely. According to the Wall Street Journal, Russian removal from Swift would mean difficulty coordinating international financial business. 

“Getting excluded from Swift significantly complicates trade, foreign investment, remittances and the central bank’s management of the economy” ( Wall Street Journal).