No Green Light to Lift EU Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs, Talks to Resume
Latvia blocked a compromise that would have removed two businessmen while extending sanctions on about 3,000 others for 36 months, diplomats said.
- EU ambassadors failed late on September 21 to finalize a renewal of sanctions against nearly 3,000 Russia-linked individuals and entities. Coreper II announced negotiations will resume at 8 a.m. in Brussels on September 22.
- A proposed compromise would extend sanctions for 36 months while removing Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the EU sanctions list. Latvia remains the sole member withholding approval.
- France and Slovakia pushed to remove Usmanov, while Luxembourg sought Fridman's delisting. Diplomats told Reuters France's position followed pressure from Azerbaijan regarding detained French nationals, though Baku denied the characterization.
- Ukraine strongly opposes removing either businessman from the sanctions list. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and sanctions envoy Vladyslav Vlasiuk argued that delisting sends the wrong signal to Moscow.
- A temporary seven-day extension adopted last week keeps existing measures in force only until September 22, meaning failure to agree risks allowing the entire sanctions list to lapse. Individual sanctions require unanimous approval of all 27 EU members.
25 Articles
25 Articles
In fact, it was thought that with the election of Orban in Hungary, it would be a little easier for the EU to deal with the sanctions imposed by Russia. However, appearances are deceptive. There are now open disputes in the EU with two billionaires close to crawling.
<p>EU failed to agree on sanctions relief from Russian billionaires Usmanov and Friedman EU ambassadors failed to agree to exclude Usmanov and Friedman from sanctions lists. Negotiations will continue on Tuesday.</p>
The 27 will resume negotiations this Tuesday after disagreements to lift restrictive measures against the oligarchs Usmanov and Fridman
France and Luxembourg are threatening to release more than 2,000 people from the EU sanctions list if other countries do not agree to lift sanctions on two Russian oligarchs.
The European Union member states did not formally ratify the previously announced agreement of ambassadors on Monday evening to extend anti-Russian sanctions, which would exclude Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov. This was reported by diplomatic sources of ČTK and other media. The ambassadors will meet again in the morning to extend the sanctions, which are due to expire on Tuesday.
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