The European Union renewed on Tuesday the sanctions imposed on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, eventually yielding to France and Luxembourg, which demanded the removal of two Russian oligarchs from the sanctions list, a request that threatened the extension of these sanctions. After a long struggle, the EU lifts sanctions against the two Russian oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, due to the threat of a total blockage of sanctions against Russia by individual member states, reports focus.de.
Instead, the measures against the other 3,000 individuals and entities will be extended for three years. According to press reports, Latvia was the last country to give up its opposition to the compromise.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the starting point of these developments was Slovakia’s request to lift the sanctions against billionaire Usmanov. France had recently and surprisingly joined this request. Subsequently, according to diplomats, Luxembourg requested that if the sanctions against Usmanov are lifted, the sanctions against Fridman should also be lifted.
In a context where President Emmanuel Macron never ceases to draw attention to the Russian hybrid threat, France’s haste to request the lifting of European sanctions against the Russo-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov can only surprise.
Paris has astonished its partners, presenting itself as the defender of the billionaire whose name has been, since February 2022, on the list of the 3,000 individuals and legal entities accused of supporting Russia’s war effort. However, in the end, on Tuesday, September 22, they accepted.
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