This is the first of a two-part series on the new era of financial warfare
It was the third day of the war in Ukraine, and on the 13th floor of the European Commission’s headquarters Ursula von der Leyen had hit an obstacle.
The commission president had spent the entire Saturday working the phones in her office in Brussels, seeking consensus among western governments for the most far-reaching and punishing set of financial and economic sanctions ever levelled at an adversary.
A deal was close but, in Washington, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen was still reviewing the details of the most