China’s Top Banks Deal Painful Blow to Russia

More Chinese banking giants have restricted transactions from Russia, dealing a blow to an already isolated Moscow. The world’s third-largest bank by market capitalization, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and three other top lenders have stopped accepting virtually all payments from Russia in order to dodge U.S. punishment for aiding that country over its war against Ukraine, according to Russian newspaper Izvestia. China has opposed sanctions on Russia since the beginning of the 2022 invasion and buoyed its northern neighbor’s isolated economy via robust trade and investment. Yet Chinese banks have gotten increasingly risk-averse since U.S. President…