“Removing Alisher Usmanov from the sanctions list could make the European Union look weak” — Lithuanian Finance Minister

1 hour ago

Lithuania is “very skeptical” about the issue of removing Russian billionaire of Uzbek origin Alisher Usmanov from the sanctions list.

Last week, France requested Usmanov's removal from the blacklist as part of a deal to release two of its citizens detained in Azerbaijan. Paris joined this initiative along with Slovakia, citing national security interests. However, French officials declined to disclose further details.

“We are very skeptical about easing sanctions,” said Valys.

This position of France has complicated the process of extending sanctions against Russia. Because to continue the sanctions, all 27 members of the European Union must give unanimous consent. The current sanctions package covers nearly 3,000 individuals and legal entities accused of supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Vilnius emphasized that now is not the time to reduce pressure on Moscow.

“The war is not over yet. Any attempt to reduce sanctions without a peace agreement could be interpreted by Russia as our weakness,” the minister said.

According to her, Usmanov's removal from the list could make Europe look disunited in its support for Kyiv. The billionaire was sanctioned at the beginning of the war due to his “close ties” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his interests in “key sectors” of the Russian economy that generate “significant” revenue for the state. Usmanov has denied these allegations.

“Russia must understand that we are united. We see Ukraine as part of our expansion process. Any attempt to occupy more land or cause more damage to Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable,” Valys said.

She added that Lithuania supports the imposition of even more sanctions against Russia.

Although many EU capitals agreed with Lithuania's position, Ireland, which holds the presidency of the EU Council, put forward a compromise proposal. According to it, along with Alisher Usmanov, another Russian businessman, Mikhail Fridman, is also expected to be removed from the list.

Diplomats told Euronews that in exchange for removing these oligarchs from the list, it is proposed to extend the sanctions regime for an unprecedented 36 months to prevent such deadlocks in the future. This proposal was considered by EU diplomats in Brussels on September 21.

The need to resolve the disagreement over sanctions is growing. Because no agreement has been reached on extending the sanctions for the usual 6 months. For this reason, last week the ambassadors temporarily extended the sanctions for only 7 days. If no agreement is reached on this matter on September 21, the sanctions will expire on September 22. The probability of Usmanov's removal from the list is high.

Kyiv also strongly condemned the efforts to remove Usmanov from the list. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials stated that lifting these restrictions would be an unacceptable concession.