Nicola Sturgeon in new demand against Russia as Putin's forces approach Kyiv

Columns of Russian tanks have crossed the border and troops are advancing within 20 miles of the capital, according to reports.

US Joe Biden imposed a raft of economic sanctions on Russian banks and oligarchs on Thursday as he promised to make Putin pay dearly for invading Ukraine.

But even with Russian troops bearing down on Kyiv, the package was missing the one punishment that many analysts regard as the most severe: ejecting Russia from the Swift international payments system. “The sanctions . . . on all their banks have equal consequences, maybe more consequences than Swift,” Biden said, defending the package.

KYIV, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 25: A woman holds her dog as she takes a photograph of a damaged residential block that was hit by an early morning missile strike on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yesterday, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with Russian troops invading the country from the north, east and south, accompanied by air strikes and shelling. The Ukrainian president said that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by the end of the first day. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images).

“It is always an option, but right now that’s not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take.”

Writing on Twitter today Ms Sturgeon referred to German Chancellor's Olaf Scholz's opposition to Russian being excluded from Swift. He said on Thursday that “it’s very important that we decide on measures that have been prepared in recent weeks and reserve everything else for a situation where it is necessary to do other things as well”.

But the First Minister responded to a report on Mr Scholz's position that it was "not a time for half measures".

She wrote: "If the current situation doesn’t make the maximum possible sanctions - including exclusion from SWIFT - necessary and urgent, it’s hard to imagine what would. This is not a time for half measures."

Western leaders are split on whether Russia should be removed from Swift, a move that would deliver a heavy blow to the country’s banks and its ability to trade beyond its borders.

In a G7 call on Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed “very hard” to remove Russia, according to officials, but he later admitted to MPs that it was “vital that we have unity” on the issue among western allies.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau also backed removing Russia from Swift, according to a G7 official.

BEREGSURANY, HUNGARY - FEBRUARY 25: People wait for checks at the Astely-Beregsurany border crossing as they flee Ukraine on February 25, 2022 in Beregsurany, Hungary. Long queues have already formed at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border crossings after Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, with explosions reported in multiple cities and far outside the restive eastern regions held by Russian-backed rebels. (Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images).

Ms Sturgeon's intervention this morning came as:

• British warplanes were launched to carry out a 48-hour Nato air-policing mission on the Polish and Romanian borders with Ukraine

• Kyiv reported that 137 Ukrainians had been killed and 316 wounded

• About 1,700 anti-war demonstrators were arrested in 50 Russian towns and cities

• Uefa was due today to strip St Petersburg of the Champions League final, the biggest match in club football

CHUHUIV, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 24: A wounded woman is seen after an airstrike damaged an apartment complex in city of Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images).

The Ukrainian President said in a video statement this morning: “According to our information, the enemy marked me as target No 1, my family as target No 2. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. We have information that enemy sabotage groups have entered Kyiv.”

Zelensky claimed that he was still in Kyiv last night. “I am staying in the government quarter together with others,” he said.

In a later address, at about 7am in Ukraine, Zelensky said that attacks across the country had stepped up and he decried sanctions imposed by the West as inadequate.

“This morning we are defending our state alone,” he said. “Like yesterday, the world’s most powerful forces are watching from afar. Did yesterday’s sanctions convince Russia? We hear in our sky and see on our earth this was not enough.”

Swift, a Belgian co-operative, is used by more than 11,000 banks and financial institutions worldwide and handles 42mn messages a day, facilitating trillions of dollars worth of transactions.

Russia accounted for 1.5 per cent of transactions in 2020.

“Swift is a neutral global co-operative set up and operated for the collective benefit of its community of more than 11,000 institutions in 200 countries,” the group said in a statement.

“Any decision to impose sanctions on countries or individual entities rests solely with the competent government bodies and applicable legislators.”

Being cut off from Swift would not prevent Russian banks from carrying out cross-border transactions, but doing so would become more costly and arduous.

Foreign dealings would rely on the use of less-efficient communication tools, such as email and telex.

It would also stymie Russia’s ability to recoup international profits from its oil and gas exports, which account for more than 40 per cent of its revenue.

Swift has long been considered as an option within the EU’s sanctions package, but it was not seen as a likely part of any early round of measures, and was instead held in reserve for extra deterrence.

But the scale of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted a debate about whether to accelerate its use. While Baltic countries and Poland are among those which are advocating a hawkish line on Swift, other member states are more wary.

Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic, on Thursday said he wanted to impose harder EU sanctions on Russia, including ejecting its banks from Swift, arguing it was important to isolate Putin.