Western allies have continued to use sanctions against Russia in a bid to target their economy amid a bloody war.
Vladimir Putin's troops began the invasion of Ukraine last week, causing global condemnation, as well as scores of Ukrainians killed and mass migration west towards Poland and Romania.
Short of joining the fight against Russia - such an act would lead to massive escalation and a likely world war - NATO countries and partner states have resorted to sanctions to try and hit the Russian economy while its fighters attempt to win their battles in Ukraine.
One such sanction is calls to ban Russian banks from Swift, while the UK has also personally targeted Putin.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "What you have seen just [today] is more countries joining the call of the UK to use Swift."
So what is Swift and is banning Russian banks from it an effective sanction?
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What is Swift?
Swift- formed in 1973 in Belgium - is a secure message messaging system that is vital for communicating transactions between two financial institutions.
It stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication and is essentially a sort of messaging service banks use to communicate with each other and authorise payments.
Estimated to send around 40 million messages every day, Swift is key to international cross-border trade, upon which much of the Russian economy is reliant.
After the annexation of Crime in 2014, Russia was threatened with a ban from Swift and as such, set up their own system. While this may help some Russian trade continue freely, there aren't many foreign countries signed up to it.
How does removing Russia from Swift help?
Most large banks use Swift, which is why Russian banks are being targeted, though it is not yet clear exactly which banks will receive sanctions.
The UK, US and EU said the move will "ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally".
With the banks cut off from Swift, many of the Russian company payments scheduled to go through will be disrupted and the process of bank transfers will become more complicated.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the BBC : "When you pay Russia for its gas, it probably goes through the Swift system, for example."
Why do some countries not want Russia banned from Swift?
Despite this, not all countries have been keen to cut Russia off from having access to the banking system due to reliance on Russian oil and gas.
Germany, which receives over 50% of its gas from Russia, was not keen to see the payments disrupted as it would likely have a negative impact on its own economy.
Since Germany's initial opposition, they are reported to have dropped their opposition to the move.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Anna Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said: "What we need is a targeted and functional limitation of Swift."
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said: "This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally."
"Cutting banks off will stop them from conducting most of their financial transactions worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports."
