Amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, PayPal has temporarily stopped offering its services in Russia, according to Reuters. In a tweet spotted by The Verge, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov shared a letter from PayPal CEO Dan Schulman confirming the move. “Under the current circumstances, we are suspending PayPal services in Russia,” Schulman states in the letter. “PayPal supports the Ukrainian people and stands with the international community in condemning Russia’s violent military aggression in Ukraine."
We received a letter from @Dan_Schulman, CEO PayPal. So now it’s official: PayPal shuts down its services in Russia citing Ukraine aggression. Thank you @PayPal for your supporting! Hope that soon you will open it in for 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/RaJxEMSLQe
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 5, 2022
A spokesperson for PayPal told Reuters the company would continue to allow withdrawals “for a period of time, ensuring that account balances are dispersed in line with applicable laws and regulations.” Before its latest decision on Saturday, the company had previously stopped accepting new Russian users as of March 2nd. PayPal’s current suspension includes its Xoom money transfer service. It’s worth noting western sanctions had already made it so that Russian consumers couldn’t make online purchases from retailers registered in the US and EU, so the suspension may not be as disruptive as it seems.