The European Union is not planning to disconnect Russia from the SWIFT international payment system, German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock said.

"It is important that we embrace sanctions that act on the system of power in a targeted manner... In the financial sphere, we have undertaken measures, made a list of banks. As concerns the SWIFT agreement... disconnection from this system would mean that people in Russia, if, for example, a grandmother has a granddaughter living in Europe who wants to send her money, even if this sounds insignificant, she can't perform a transfer," Baerbock told journalists on Friday.

Even if Russia is cut off from SWIFT, the politicians responsible for the Ukraine crisis "will have the capabilities to nonetheless carry out their financial operations," she said.