The dispute was resolved on Tuesday evening. The ambassadors finally reached an agreement: sanctions on Russian and Belarusian citizens and companies are extended by three years, to 2029, and Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman have disappeared from the list. teraz.sk ↗ Refresher.sk ↗ On Wednesday morning, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev then pardoned the Frenchman Martin Ryan, whom Baku had held in prison since 2023 and sentenced to ten years for espionage. BFM TV ↗ La Libre ↗ France had pushed for Usmanov's removal precisely with reference to the detained Frenchmen. Le Figaro ↗ teraz.sk ↗
Latvia condemned the decision and itself backed down over it. Foreign Minister Baiba Braže described the removal of the oligarchs "for political reasons and without a legal basis" as a dangerous precedent, and the Estonian minister is demanding an explanation from Paris. LRT ↗ ERR ↗ Latvia, however, was the last country to demand that the names remain on the list, and in the end it abstained in the vote. Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs justified this by saying that "the French intransigence was so unyielding that a compromise did not come until the last minute," and that the choice ultimately came down to this: either risk 2,600 names on the list, or the entire sanctions package. LRT ↗ This created a dispute within the coalition in Riga — Kulbergs reproaches Braže for not warning him about the vote, which came as a surprise to him, while the minister replied on X that such behaviour is not worthy of a prime minister. LSM ↗ The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has meanwhile proposed banning both businessmen from entering the country for five years. Lietuvos Rytas ↗ Poland, which opposed the concessions, defends the outcome — according to Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, it was the only possible compromise. Seznam Zprávy ↗ German-language newspapers condemn the decision: FAZ called it fatal, Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote that whoever spares this oligarch makes a fool of themselves, and the Zurich-based Tages-Anzeiger claims that France and Luxembourg pushed through their interests against the entire Union. FAZ ↗ Süddeutsche Zeitung ↗ Tages-Anzeiger ↗ The Kyiv-based Kyiv Independent writes of the decision that the Union backed down. Kyiv Independent ↗
Ambassadors of the European Union member states agreed in Brussels on Monday to extend sanctions on Russian and Belarusian citizens and companies by a further three years. At the same time, they decided to remove the Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the sanctions list. teraz.sk ↗
Sanctions have so far usually been extended for six months. The three-year extension is part of a compromise agreement that will allow the restrictive measures adopted in connection with Russia's war against Ukraine to continue. ta3.com ↗
According to SITA, Slovakia and France pushed for Usmanov's removal, while Luxembourg requested Fridman's removal. La Libre ↗ Poland and the Baltic states opposed the concessions in the negotiations. According to information from the talks, the dispute over the businessmen's names complicated the agreement on the overall extension of sanctions. SITA ↗
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the removal of the businessmen from the sanctions list unacceptable and urged the European Union to take a tougher line against Russia. Kyiv has long demanded that pressure be maintained on Russian officials and businessmen because of the continuing war against Ukraine. teraz.sk ↗
The ambassadors' decision represents a compromise between extending the sanctions and removing two Russian billionaires from the list. The agreement means that the sanctions regime against the other affected persons and companies will remain in force for the next three years. zurnal.pravda.sk ↗
Updated EU Drops Usmanov and Fridman, Baku Soon Releases a Frenchman
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On Record
Andrij Sybiha
Minister zahraničných vecí Ukrajiny
26.10.2026
„Я впевнений, що Віктор Орбан, обійнявши посаду генерального секретаря ООН, з користю застосував би свої майстерні навички вето та шантажу, які він відточував роками, зриваючи важливі рішення ЄС."
Reakcia na správu WSJ, že Trumpova administratíva presadzuje Orbána za generálneho tajomníka OSN.
Andrij Sybiha
ukrajinský minister zahraničných vecí
22.09.2026
„Zrušenie sankcií na Usmanova a Fridmana je hanebné a neospravedlniteľné."
Reakcia Kyjeva na rozhodnutie Európskej únie vyradiť dvoch ruských miliardárov zo sankčného zoznamu.
This summary was generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies. Please verify information in the original sources below.
Sources (11)
Štáty EÚ súhlasili s trojročným predĺžením protiruských sankcií
teraz.sk
| 16:20 21.09.
Sybiha: Vyradenie podnikateľov zo sankčného zoznamu EÚ je neprijateľné
teraz.sk
| 16:44 21.09.
Státy EU se shodly na prodloužení sankcí proti Rusům, dvě jména zmizela
seznamzpravy.cz
| 16:37 21.09.
Štáty EÚ predĺžia protiruské sankcie: Zásadné zmeny v zozname! Ako s tým súvisí Slovensko?
Nový Čas
| 14:21 21.09.
Spor o ruských oligarchov blokuje predĺženie sankcií EÚ, Kyjev žiada pritvrdiť
SITA
| 17:51 21.09.
EÚ chce predĺžiť sankcie voči Rusom, no Usmanova a Fridmana zo zoznamu vyradí
aktuality.sk
| 16:13 21.09.
Štáty EÚ sa dohodli na predĺžení sankcií voči Rusku za vojnu proti Ukrajine až o 36 mesiacov.
STVR (Minúta po minúte)
| 16:45 21.09.
Štáty EÚ sa zhodli na predĺžení sankcií proti Rusom. Zo zoznamu zmizli dvaja oligarchovia
zurnal.pravda.sk
| 16:06 21.09.
Evropské státy se shodly na prodloužení sankcí vůči Rusům. Dva oligarchové zmizeli
zpravy.aktualne.cz
| 17:09 21.09.
Státy EU se shodly na prodloužení sankcí proti Rusům. Dvě jména ze seznamu zmizela
ct24.ceskatelevize.cz
| 16:12 21.09.
Členské štáty EÚ sa dohodli na predĺžení sankcií proti Rusom. Zo zoznamu vyškrtli dvoch miliardárov
ta3.com
| 16:10 21.09.
This article is part of an ongoing tracker
Sankcie EÚ voči Rusku: blokuje ich Slovensko pre dvoch oligarchov
Indicators completed by this article:
- ✅ Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman remained on the EU sanctions list after the September round
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