BERLIN, (Reuters) – Western governments have stopped considering cutting Russian banks from the Swift global payments network, Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper reported. The report cited sources within German government.

Handelsblatt reported, based on government sources that economic sanctions were being investigated against Russian banks, as an alternative.

On the report, the Russian ruble gained.

Handelsblatt was rejected by the White House National Security Council spokesperson.

“No alternative is out of the question. “We continue to work closely with European counterparts regarding severe consequences for Russia should it invade Ukraine,” said the spokesperson.

Reuters was told by a source within the German government that they could not confirm. The matter is currently not settled.

To deter Russia from further military actions against Ukraine, the West has always considered Swift exclusion to be the best sanction against Russia.

Swift is the global network that almost all financial institutions around the world use to transfer large amounts of money. This system forms part of an international payments system.