Withdrawal of sanctions on Russian oligarchs is “shameful and unjustifiable”

“ Mcovo is celebrating because he got what he wanted: a feeling of impunity, the humiliation of the EU and the division among Europeans”, condemned Kyiv’s chief of diplomacy on network X.

This is the case for the Alisher Usmanov oligarchs, a steel producer allegedly used in the production of Russian tanks, and Mikhail Fridman, one of Russia's leading bankers, both outside the new Brussels-Moscow sanctions package, under pressure from France, Luxembourg and Slovakia.

In his message, Sybiga urged EU Member States to “impose their own national sanctions on these two individuals”.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, also condemned the lifting of sanctions against the two Russians during a meeting with the leader of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, outside the UN General Assembly in New York.

“ At a time when Russia is carrying out brutal attacks on our people – and even now, during the UN General Assembly, air strikes are in place in many regions because of drones and ballistic missiles – the signs of lifting sanctions against individual Russian oligarchs are self-destructive and counterproductive,” he said in a message on social networks.

Wars “end with determination and force,” Zelensky observed in his message quoted in the Ukrinform agency, and “not with concessions to the intimate circle of the aggressor.”.

The EU Member States reached agreement today to renew sanctions on Russia for violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity, just hours before the previous package expired, the Irish presidency of the Council announced.

The renewal of the sanctions package was blocked several days ago due to the demands of France and Luxembourg on the two Russian oligarchs, which were in turn blocked by Latvia.

France has requested that Usmanov, a Russian-Uzbek citizen, be released from sanctions under an agreement for the release of two French citizens detained in Azerbaijan.

Luxembourg also requested that Fridman be removed from the list after the Russian banker has opened an arbitration procedure against the country in which it requires compensation of EUR 14 billion due to the freezing of its financial assets.

The Irish presidency considered that the agreement reached today was a “difficult compromise” and implies the “removal of some individuals from the list”.

Latvia later justified that, in order to prevent the sanctions package from expiring, it decided to abstain from voting and to proceed with national sanctions to Usmanov and Fridman.

The sanctions scheme covers some 2,600 individuals and entities and includes the freezing of assets and the prohibition of making funds available to the sanctioned and will apply for three years, unlike the six months that have been in place so far.

At the meeting in New York, the President of the European Commission informed Zelensky that Ukraine could access by the end of the year another EUR 37 billion from the EUR 90 billion credit line to Kyiv which the EU made available for 2026 and 2027.

“ More defense support is on the way. And as the reforms in the [Ukrainian parliament] progress, more budget support will also be made available. We have EUR 37 billion still available this year,” Von der Leyen said on the X network.

The Ukrainian President confirmed on the same network that he discussed with Von der Leyen “the financial resilience of Ukraine” this year and in 2027.

“ We thank the EU for the decision on the EUR 90 billion, and Ukraine is fulfilling its commitments under the agreement within the budgetary constraints,” Zelensky said, referring to the fiscal adjustments required by Brussels to release the funds.