Russia-China Financial Ties Grow After Visa, Mastercard Punish Putin
With Vladimir Putin having already dangled the threat of nuclear war over the heads of the entire western world should they choose to intervene in Ukraine, the ways in which Russia can be punished for these actions are getting creative.
Obviously, there were the long-predicted and threatened sanctions, specifically detailed by the west and entirely ignored by Putin, who then feigned ignorance and attempted to portray them as akin to “war”.
But, perhaps even more detrimental to the Russian economy will be the private sector boycotts and avoidance, such as the withdrawal of Mastercard and Visa from the whole of Russia.
The shocking turn of events had Moscow phoning Beijing for help.
Sberbank PJSC said it’s looking at the possibility of issuing cards using Russian payments system Mir and China’s UnionPay after Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. suspended operations following the invasion of Ukraine.
The move could allow Russians to make some payments overseas, with UnionPay operating in 180 countries and regions. Visa and Mastercard said that any transactions initiated with their cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country from March 10.
Cards issued by domestic banks will continue to work in Russia using its payment system. Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank said it would announce timescales later.
The move comes just days after China refused to vote to sanction Russia for their invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, conjuring fears that a new “axis of evil” could be emerging in the eastern world.