All Russian banks already under international sanctions will be excluded from the SWIFT interbank payment system, says the German Cabinet. If necessary, this will affect other Russian banks, they add.
The German Executive did not rule out new sanctions against Russia if the military operation in Ukraine continues.
In addition, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed the EU's readiness to "freeze" the assets of the Russian Central Bank.
The EU also intends to deprive Russian "oligarchs" of the opportunity to use their international financial assets, he added.
According to the European official, these measures, which are being created in coordination with the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, "will significantly reduce Russia's ability to finance the war."
At an emergency summit held in Brussels, Belgium, the leaders of the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) agreed on Thursday to apply sanctions against Russia, in response to the military operation they activated in Ukraine.
In a joint statement, the EU said the sanctions would cover Russia's financial, energy and transport sectors, suggesting they should be adopted without delay.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the sanctions were intended to weaken "Russia's economic foundation and its capacity for modernisation."
The US was the first to announce a new package of economic sanctions against some Russian banks, sovereign debt and five Russian citizens after the Putin government recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The EU also agreed on Friday to freeze the assets of Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a measure later joined by the US and Canada.
Diplomatic relations will be reviewed
Russian Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the current sanctions against Russia could be a reason to review relations with all the states that have imposed them.
"Sanctions are a good reason to review all relations with the states that imposed them and to stop the dialogue on strategic stability," Medvedev said in a post on his Vkontakte page.
Dmitry Peskov said this Saturday that the Russian government is taking "immediate" measures to reduce the damage of the sanctions applied after the armed operation in Ukraine.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics.
The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and that the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country.
