UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, during a private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the UN General Assembly in New York, said he does not support the EU’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.
As Bloomberg reports, the British Prime Minister assured that his country would keep restrictions on these oligarchs in place. He stressed that Ukraine’s allies must continue to maintain sanctions pressure in order to force Russia to end the war.
Burnham’s office declined to comment on the details of the conversation. At the same time, Downing Street said that during the meeting officials discussed the need to tighten sanctions to bring Russia to the negotiating table.
The criticism marked a rare instance of differences between the UK and the EU on sanctions policy, which has remained aligned since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Both oligarchs previously had business interests in the UK. Usmanov was known for investments in the London football club Arsenal, which he exited in 2018. Fridman moved to London in 2013 but left the country after restrictions were imposed on him.
- On 22 September it became known that the EU had 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, bloc members extended restrictions against almost 3,000 individuals and legal entities that support the war against Ukraine, immediately for three years instead of the usual six months.
- 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 linked to a possible prisoner exchange involving Azerbaijan.
- Luxembourg, meanwhile, requested similar terms for Fridman, who is currently suing the country for $16bn over the freezing of his assets.