EU member states agreed on renewing Russia sanctions

According to the news on the Politico website, ambassadors of EU member states met in Brussels to discuss the renewal of the sanctions framework against Russia.

At the meeting, an agreement was reached on keeping the sanctions imposed on more than 3 thousand individuals and organizations in force for the next 36 months and removing businessmen Usmanov and Fridman from the list.

Slovakia and France were demanding that Uzbek and Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has investments in the iron and steel, mining, copper, cement, telecommunications, technology and media sectors, be removed from the sanctions list.

Luxembourg, on the other hand, wanted Russian and Israeli billionaire Fridman, who initiated a legal process to release his frozen assets, to be removed from the sanctions list. Fridman has activities in banking, energy, telecommunications, healthcare and retail.

Latvia opposed the removal of the business people in question from the sanctions list and vetoed the decision.

With Latvia's abstention in the final vote, member states were able to make a decision.

The official decision will be announced after member countries complete the written process.

Within the scope of the EU's individual sanctions, the assets of individuals and organizations on the list are frozen. Additionally, a travel ban is imposed on individuals.

The continuation of the EU's individual sanctions against Russia requires the unanimity of 27 member states, and sanctions are normally extended for 6-month periods.