EU countries have reached a compromise on extending sanctions against Russia and removed two Russian billionaires — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — from the blacklist.
At the same time, the bloc extended restrictions on almost 3,000 individuals and legal entities that support the war against Ukraine for three years at once, instead of the usual six months, The Guardian reports.
The decision to remove the oligarchs was taken under pressure from certain states, although most EU countries opposed such a step. France demanded that sanctions on Usmanov be lifted on “national security” grounds, which is being linked to a possible prisoner exchange involving Azerbaijan.
Luxembourg, meanwhile, asked for similar terms for Fridman, who is currently suing the country for $16bn over the freezing of his assets.
This concession has angered many countries, as it sets a dangerous precedent of weakening sanctions to serve the private interests of individual states.
This controversial decision was made possible by a proposal from the Irish presidency to extend the entire sanctions package for 36 months at once, which would ensure the stability of the restrictions in future. The final obstacle was Latvia’s position: it opposed lifting the sanctions, but in the end diplomats agreed that the country would simply abstain in the vote.
For now, the EU blacklist still includes Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov, State Duma deputies, Russia’s largest banks, energy companies and defence-industry enterprises.
As soon as next month, EU officials had planned to present new sanctions against a further 1,600 individuals and companies involved in Russia’s military-industrial complex, but the latest disputes show that the process of reaching agreement going forward may be difficult.