MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. Russia and its partners are holding closed talks on how to conduct financial transactions without using SWIFT, Dmitry Birichevsky, head of the economic cooperation department of the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel. An excerpt from the interview was published in the Vesti Telegram channel on Friday.

"Our Central Bank has a system for transmitting banking messages. China, Iran, and other countries have such a system as well. But combining these systems or deciding on the basis on which [system] we will work is the most sensitive, painful issue, because this is part of the country's financial sovereignty, in fact. The negotiations are underway. Naturally, they are quite discrete and closed," he said.

Birichevsky noted that Russia's partners "have found some ways to move forward."

"There are - let's say - temporary, stopgap forms. About how to get out of this now," the diplomat said.

On June 3, 2022, the EU Council finally adopted the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes disconnecting most Russian banks from SWIFT.