Foreign Affairs
EU Countries Reach Last-Minute Agreement to Extend Sanctions Against Russia – But Two Oligarchs Removed from List
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EU member states agreed to extend sanctions against approximately 3,000 Russians and Russian companies for three years, removing Uzbek-Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Alfa Bank co-founder Mikhail Fridman from the list. France, Luxembourg, and Slovakia secured the removals in exchange for Ireland’s proposal to reduce renewal frequency, aiming to prevent individual countries from imposing new demands during each review. Latvia abstained from the vote, opposing the exemptions, while French officials cited national security concerns related to the release of two French prisoners in Azerbaijan as the rationale for Usmanov’s delisting.
Ozetta summarises; the reporting is the newsroom's