The European Union extends sanctions against Russia as criticism emerges over the lifting of some oligarchs

The sanctions have been extended for three years, this is a very clear message and a strong pressure on Russia to change its behavior as the pressure will remain in the long term. A spokesperson for the European Commission said this.

The EU has therefore once again demonstrated its unanimity in confirming the existing sanctions against Russia. We also note the decision by Member States to lift sanctions against certain individuals. Discussions on sanctions are confidential and the exclusive competence of Member States and therefore, as a matter of principle, we cannot comment publicly on the content of such discussions, he added. The EU has constantly expanded the list of sanctions in support of Ukraine's territorial integrity, already including around 3 thousand people and entities and adopting 21 sanctions packages. In parallel, we are working on a new package of sanctions, he concluded.

Shame, European Union, wrote Vladimir Kara-Murza, a former political prisoner released from prison and from Russia with the prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States in August 2024.

If you are rich, own a couple of yachts and have connections, the sanctions against you can probably be lifted without too much difficulty. But if you fled Russia with few belongings because of political persecution, because you were drafted into the military or because you don't support the war, things are different: You could be denied a visa, barred from opening an account, face a series of obstacles and essentially be thrown back into the arms of Putin's system, Yulia Navalnaya wrote.

This decision represents a major geopolitical victory for Putin. It creates precisely the political effect that benefits the Kremlin: discord between European countries and doubts about the coherence of a common European policy., added Lyubov Sobol.

The European Union's decision to remove Fridman and Usmanov from the sanctions list is wrong and sets a terrible precedent. It is a real moral catastrophe for the European bureaucracy led by Kallas: only Latvia is ready to resist Europe's capitulation to Putin's oligarchs, wrote Aleksei Navalny's former aide Leonid Volkov.