EU capitals fail to extend Russia sanctions scheme amid disputes over oligarchs

BRUSSELS — EU capitals failed to extend one of the bloc’s Russia sanctions schemes on Monday, five EU diplomats told POLITICO. Three of them said EU ambassadors will reconvene later Monday for further discussion.

Ambassadors meeting in Brussels needed to reach unanimous agreement on Monday because the regime — which governs the asset freezes of about 3,000 individuals and companies — expires Tuesday.

Slovakia has demanded that the bloc remove two Russian oligarchs from the sanctions list: Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. France has reportedly attempted to create a compromise by suggesting only Usmanov be delisted.

Most other capitals were unwilling to consider delisting anyone while Russia is firing record numbers of missiles at Ukrainian civilian targets. One of the diplomats said that “against the backdrop of rising hybrid threats and Russian drone attacks only 1 kilometer from the Polish border, it's hard to believe that France is actually asking for this.”

Another part of the discussion revolves around whether to extend the measures by six months, as has been customary since 2014, or renew them for 12 months. Slovakia is understood to be unwilling to back the longer period.