Eurasia Group president and author of The Power of the Crisis, Ian Bremmer, on the most likely economic consequences of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Financial services companies Visa and Mastercard announced on Saturday that they were suspending operations in Russia in response to the country’s incursion into neighboring Ukraine.
“Effective immediately, Visa will work with its customers and partners in Russia to terminate all Visa transactions in the coming days,” Visa said in a press release. “After completion, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country, and any Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work in the Russian Federation.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP/AP Newsroom)
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Al Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Visa Inc., said in a statement that the company feels “forced to act” following Russia’s “unprovoked invasion of Ukraine” and “the unacceptable events we have witnessed.”
“We regret that this will impact our valued colleagues as well as the customers, partners, merchants and cardholders we serve in Russia,” Kelly said. “This war and the constant threat to peace and stability require that we respond in accordance with our values.”
This image, taken June 9, 2016, shows MasterCard and VISA credit cards. (Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev/Illustration)
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Mastercard said in a statement on Saturday that it has also made the decision to suspend service in Russia due to the “unprecedented nature of the current conflict.”
The announcements came after several major corporations said they were cutting or trying to cut ties with the country, including BP, Shell, General Motors and Maersk.
Russia continues to carry out airstrikes, shelling and military operations on Ukrainian soil as part of an invasion that has created a humanitarian crisis that has displaced more than 1 million Ukrainians.
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Civil defense volunteers load a truck with humanitarian aid for victims of the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Michel Euler/AP Newsroom)
From February 24 to Friday midnight, the UN recorded 1,085 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including 351 killed and 707 wounded. Among those killed were 71 men, 41 women, eight boys and four girls, as well as 217 adults and 10 children, whose sex could not be immediately determined, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
However, the agency added that it “believes the real numbers are significantly higher.”
Audrey Conklin of Fox News contributed to this report.