With all transactions outside SWIFT or any West aligned financial system(s), West can't see those transaction and can't block them. But SOME Russian banks are still within SWIFT since West still need to pay Russia $MMs to buy the energy products.
Central Bank of Russia Launches SWIFT Replacement With 399 Users The Russian parallel of SWIFT will be the Financial Message Transfer System of the Bank of Russia (SPFS). This network will be open to mostly Belarusian banks. The SPFS network already has over 399 users, and Russia is in negotiations with China to join the SPFS.
Transnistria isn't a real country, it's as much a country as Crimea was. It should've been solved long time ago by western forces, re-uniting it with Moldova and sending in actual peacekeepers.
I think the SWIFT is dead, no longer be trustworthy and be neutral. Russia will build one, China will build one, perhaps India will build one. Now even Visa and MasterCard are in play, short both companies going forward, no large foreign markets will try hanging with these two.
Excellent point. The Latvian and Estonia dilemma. Each country has nearly a 50% Russian speaking..pro Russia population. This may not end well for NATO hardliners. It may have been too hasty to have extended both NATO and EU memberships to these countries as early as 2004. Latvia went full bankrupt in four short years later(2008) during the US subprime melt down. EU needed to bail out Latvia (The Largest Baltic Market) to close to a trillion $ in the first months (all their banks became insolvent). These countries will probably see much political turmoil after the Ukraine situation. Some may want to back away from the NATO position. If they take the aggressive NATO position, I would think the Russians inside would create much counter opposition and be active in voting. Possible breakaway activity in the districts along the Russian border. The story often not told is in these eastern EU countries, once they get the EU passport, much of their younger population (18-35) leave for Western Europe for jobs, benefits, handouts, free schools and healthcare..ect. In Latvia, in the months following their admission to EU, 50% of all their young women left and went to Western Europe to work as escorts. This is also true in Ukraine. In Ukraine, this exit population were replaced with foreign actors. many extremists from Israel, ISS, criminal opportunists, shady international bankers and weapons dealers...Ukraine were offering passports by investment from 2014. Most of the people there left fighting probably mercenary dual passport holders which are there as proxy from other foreign interests...a power play at work. The whole internal situation in Ukraine is starting to look exactly like Syria in the months leading up to the Russia intervention there. Similar motivation and people.