UK says it will work ‘all day’ to persuade Europe to cut Russia off from Swift

Liz Truss and Ben Wallace leave Downing Street, after a cabinet meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Thursday. Photograph: James Manning/PA

The UK has said it will work “all day” to persuade fellow European states to cut Russia off from the international Swift payment system.

The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, ended the pretence that Britain was not at odds with its fellow European leaders over the issue. He said there was still time for Russia to be excluded, and the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said: “The UK is working with allies to exclude Russia from the Swift financial system.”