BRUSSELS – The EU on Wednesday excluded seven Russian banks from the global SWIFT network, as sanctions were ratcheted up over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The seven banks cut out from the secure interbank messaging network that permits transactions are Russia’s second-biggest lender VTB Bank as well as Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Sovcombank and VEB (Vnesheconombank), effective immediately, according to an official EU publication.

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The list did not name two major Russian banks, Sberbank and Gazprombank, which were left connected to SWIFT to allow EU countries to pay for Russian gas and oil deliveries.