Czech president: Russia should be cut off from SWIFT

FILE PHOTO - Presidents of Visegrad Group countries meet in Budapest
FILE PHOTO - Czech Republic's President Milos Zeman appears on a screen during a Visegrad Group meeting in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, Hungary, November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

PRAGUE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Czech President Milos Zeman, who had in the past promoted warm relations with Moscow, said on Thursday Russia's attack on Ukraine was "crime against peace" and required a response through harsh sanctions including cutting the country from the SWIFT international payments system.

"It is time to reach for much tougher sanctions than those originally planned, by which I mean above all a sanction in the area of the so-called SWIFT," Zeman said in a speech.

"It is needed to isolate a madman, not just defend against him by words, but by concrete measures."

Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Robert Muller; Editing by Alison Williams

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