Logo for the SWIFT interbank payment information exchange systemNEW YORK, Mar 16The sanctions that the West continues to impose against Russia against the background of the events in Ukraine are an international crime and an act of war, Richard Black, a representative of the Schiller Institute in New York, told RIA Novosti. SWIFT is an act of war. They are one-sided, they are an international crime and an act of war. And being an act of war, they cannot be justified,» Black said. bde23510b5aa58e244c9d539fda0efab.jpg» />Hellish but not eternal: who will break first because of Western sanctions «And, what is truly terrible, they are aimed directly at the Russian population and regime change — the removal of Putin. Some of the Western media, primarily in London, are calling for the assassination of President Putin. These are all acts of war,” he added. According to the expert, if this “march towards the destruction of Russia does not stop,” it is quite possible that a third world war will occur. A number of Western countries call the military operation launched by Russia on February 24 in Ukraine an invasion. The purpose of the operation is to protect people who, as Russian President Vladimir Putin noted, «have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. The occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia emphasized. After the start of a special operation to demilitarize Ukraine, the EU adopted three new packages of sanctions against Russia. As the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said earlier, the Western sanctions are very serious, Russia was preparing for them in advance. The restrictive measures also affected Belarus, which the West accused of supporting the Russian military special operation in Ukraine. It's time to take advantage of it
