Latest On Russia-Ukraine War: Paypal Suspends Service In Russia; Ceasefire Violated

PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL on Saturday announced that it is halting its operations in Russia, joining a growing number of companies responding to the Ukrainian invasion. 

Latest Developments: PayPal is the latest payment organization to cut ties with Russia. "Under the current circumstances, we are suspending PayPal services in Russia. The company stands with the international community in condemning Russia's violent military aggression in Ukraine," PayPal President and Chief Executive Dan Schulman said in a statement. 

Also on Saturday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said that Russia violated a ceasefire agreement and attacks are ongoing in the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

“Due to the fact that the Russian side does not adhere to the cease-fire and has continued shelling both of Mariupol itself and its environs and for security reasons, the evacuation of the civilian population has been postponed,” city officials said in a statement.

Earlier, the Russian defense ministry had said in a statement it had agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces for Mariupol, a strategic port in the southeast, and for the eastern city of Volnovakha.

But a city official reported that shelling continued in his area on Saturday despite the deal, a sign of the fragility of efforts to stop fighting across the country.

Impact of PayPal's Decision: PayPal's suspension of services in Russia applies to its money transfer tool Xoom. Other rival companies such as Remitly Global Inc. RELY and Wise PLC WISE earlier suspended some services in Russia. 

PayPal has stopped accepting new users in the country from Wednesday onwards. 

Many financial and tech institutions have already suspended their operations in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier in February, U.S. payment card networks, Visa Inc. V and Mastercard Inc. MA stopped handling transactions for financial institutions in Russia. 

Photo: manhhai on flickr