EU renews anti-Russian sanctions for three years but pardons two oligarchs

In the end the 27 reached an agreement. Individual sanctions targeting over 3,000 Russian individuals and legal entities for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine have been renewed, for a full three years (instead of the usual 6 months). However, two oligarchs were pardoned. That is, the Russian-Uzbek Alisher Usmanov and the Russian-Israeli Mikhail Fridman, at the insistence of the France-Slovakia tandem for the former and Luxembourg for the latter.

The decision triggered Kiev's anger: it is a "shame", Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thundered bluntly. "Moscow - he noted - is celebrating because it got what it wanted". Echoing him from New York is Volodymyr Zelensky. The choice, precisely at a time when Moscow is hammering Ukrainian cities, is "counterproductive" and will result in a boomerang. The agreement arrived after an unprecedented one-week extension, decreed to allow the 27 to overcome the impasse, which worsened when Paris adopted the Bratislava line - a move which took the other 25 by surprise - for reasons of very high "national interest".

In practice it is an exchange. The removal of sanctions on Usmanov would pave the way for the release of several French citizens detained in Azerbaijan, with which the oligarch has close ties (also Turkey has also put pressure on him). Several diplomatic sources have described the situation as "blackmail", which risks setting a precedent - therefore the choice to extend the measure for 3 years and 'lock down' the status quo.

"As part of the review of the sanctions, the Council also decided not to renew the listing of three natural persons and one legal person, as well as to remove three deceased persons from the list", reads a note released after the conclusion of the written procedure. Luxembourg instead called for sanctions against Fridman to be lifted as the wealthy Russian businessman sued the Grand Duchy for nearly 15 billion euros, about half of its annual budget.

In April 2024, the Court of Justice also ruled that the EU had not presented sufficient evidence to demonstrate the support of Fridman - and his Russian-Latvian partner Petr Aven - for the Kremlin's actions or policies against Ukraine. However, Latvia had appealed the decision. And it was Riga, during the negotiations, who vetoed it until the end. "It was a morally correct position and our allies in Ukraine appreciated it," underlined Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, who then explained that he had opted to abstain and had ordered "national" sanctions for the oligarchs.

But there's more. Kulbergs also revealed that he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron and that he had agreed with him on an "increase" of the French military presence in the country, especially with regards to "air defence". Furthermore, negotiations will soon begin for Latvia's entry into the French nuclear shield project for European allies (which, however, had already been announced). In short, there is a counterpart here too.