Russia and Mexico will discuss alternative payment mechanisms to bypass the SWIFT system and simplify trade, the Russian embassy in Mexico City said, Izvestia reported on May 31.

The embassy said the issue would likely be raised in the broader context of seeking stable settlement mechanisms and reducing transaction barriers, though detailed work would require a separate track involving experts and regulators.

The matter could come up at a second Russia-Mexico business forum, provisionally scheduled for autumn 2026, with agricultural cooperation among the possible priority areas.

Independence from SWIFT would help Russia simplify supplies of agricultural produce and fertilisers. Trade between the two countries reached about $959mn in 2025, of which Russian exports made up almost $943mn.

Russia's main supplies were fertilisers at $550.4mn, iron and steel at $197.67mn, aluminium at $58.17mn and rubber at $54.69mn. Mexico ships fruit, medical equipment, coffee and spices to Russia.

A step towards closer ties came on February 2, 2025, when the Russian government added Mexico to a list of states whose credit institutions and brokers can take part in trading on the Russian foreign exchange market, said Anastasia Gavrilova, an international relations specialist at the Higher School of Economics. Payments could run through SWIFT analogues, such as a link between China's CIPS system and Russia's SPFS, using third-country currencies including those of China or the United Arab Emirates.

Direct interbank settlements independent of SWIFT would lower transaction costs and political risks in bilateral trade, said Galina Platunina of the Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics.

Operations often pass through third-country banks and dollar infrastructure, making payments slower and more expensive, alongside the constant risk of sanctions.

The forum may also discuss the possible launch of Russia's Mir payment card, given continued Russian tourist interest in Mexico despite the absence of direct flights since the US intervention in Venezuela.

The embassy said expanding the use of Russian payment instruments abroad remained relevant for Russian citizens visiting Mexico, though no firm agreements on recognising Mir cards in 2026 yet existed.

The initiatives face a significant obstacle in US influence over Mexico. The embassy said practical progress was complicated by restrictions in the banking sector, the heavy dependence of Mexican banks on dollar infrastructure and the caution of financial institutions in dealing with Russian lenders.

Mexico does not in principle support anti-Russian sanctions, does not refuse mutually beneficial cooperation with Moscow and avoids openly condemning Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Gavrilova said.

The country has historically sought independence from Washington, said Yegor Lidovskoy, director general of the Hugo Chavez Latin American Cultural Centre, adding that nothing prevented the two countries developing cooperation except US pressure.

US control over Mexico is mainly economic. Trade between the two reached about $873bn in 2025, roughly 900 times the size of Mexico's trade with Russia, with the two economies tightly integrated into a single North American production space spanning autos, electronics and components.