EU sanctions on more than 3,000 people are set to expire on September 15. Slovakia is blocking them over two Russian billionaires, and France has joined in over one of them

Individual European Union sanctions against more than three thousand Russian individuals and companies will automatically lapse unless the twenty-seven renew them by September 15 at the latest. Member states' ambassadors failed to approve this on Monday morning and agreed to try again that same day. This is being blocked by Slovakia, which is demanding that Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman be removed from the list, and, since Friday, also by France, which wants to exempt Usmanov — and which has not explained to the other member states in any detail the reason for its change of position.

The morning meeting ended without a deal, another was due the same day

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the member states, which prepares the Council's decisions in Brussels, held an emergency meeting on Monday morning. According to three diplomats cited by Ukraine's European Pravda, it ended without consensus, and the ambassadors agreed to try again that same day. The Council itself did not comment on the course of the negotiations. European Pravda ↗

The deadline, however, is firm. Individual sanctions imposed for undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity must be renewed by September 15 at the latest, otherwise they will automatically lapse for more than three thousand individuals and legal entities, mostly from the Russian Federation. Danas ↗ Romanian media described it as a race against time — the Union has only one day left. Digi24 ↗

Renewal requires the unanimity of all twenty-seven states. A single country can therefore bring down the entire list simply by doing nothing.

Two men worth all this trouble

Alisher Usmanov is a Russian-Uzbek billionaire with a net worth of around fourteen billion dollars. The Union sanctioned him in February 2022. His holding company Metalloinvest, according to Lithuania's public broadcaster, supplied components to weapons manufacturers, including a maker of Kalashnikovs, and his business empire controlled banks that financed defense production. LRT ↗

Mikhail Fridman, according to the same estimates, is worth 16.6 billion dollars. His Alfa Bank, according to the same broadcaster, provided loans to the arms industry, and the insurance company AlfaStrakhovanie was a long-standing insurance partner of the Russian armed forces. LRT ↗

The same caveat applies to both names: these are claims taken from sanctions argumentation and investigative findings, not from audited company reports.

Both are also fighting their listing in court and have partially succeeded. The General Court of the European Union ruled in April 2024 to annul Fridman's listing for the period from February 2022 to March 2023, finding that the Council's evidence was insufficient — however, his sanctions remained in place through later decisions not covered by the ruling. The Moscow Times ↗ Usmanov did not succeed in court either, in February 2024. The General Court also dismissed his lawsuit in September 2025 eucrim ↗, and his appeal to the Court of Justice has remained open since November 2025.

The sanctions regime is also crumbling around Usmanov elsewhere. The Administrative Court in Frankfurt am Main ruled on June 11 this year that the obligation to freeze the superyacht Dilbar, linked to Usmanov, could not stand, since it had not been proven that the vessel is controlled by the sanctioned individual. His personal sanctions were not thereby overturned, and according to a legal analysis from September 1, the ruling was not final. Hospodárske noviny ↗

The French about-face that Paris did not explain

Until Friday, September 11, Slovakia stood alone on this issue. On that day, France joined the demand to remove Usmanov — without explaining the change in its position to the other member states. According to people familiar with the negotiations, this caused surprise and dissatisfaction among several delegations, and France's permanent representation to the Union did not respond to a request for comment. Danas ↗

The only thing to come out of Paris is a reference to security. A French diplomat put it this way: "We have a separate issue related to national security, and we would like to respond positively to our international partners who have approached us regarding Mr Usmanov." Ukrayinska Pravda ↗ Paris has not specified exactly what that question concerns — and neither the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor Usmanov's representatives have explained it in any further detail.

There is a contradiction here worth noting. France is simultaneously pushing for tighter sanctions pressure on Russia and support for Ukraine. Danas ↗

Italy and Croatia joined in — as an attempt at compromise

Rome and Zagreb also joined the demand to remove Usmanov. According to negotiators, they did not do so because they agreed with it, but in order to find a compromise before a decision is made on the entire list. Danas ↗ An Italian daily summed it up briefly: Italy is calling for the sanctions against Usmanov to be lifted. That daily likewise gave no explicit justification. Il Fatto Quotidiano ↗

Most member states remain opposed to the French-Slovak demand. According to Lithuania's public broadcaster, another compromise is on the table — not addressing the names, but shortening the renewal period from one year to six months. The broadcaster attributes it to Ireland, while other outlets mention it without naming its author. LRT ↗

Why this time the dispute is also about duration

The Irish proposal only makes sense with context that tends to get lost in the coverage. What is at stake in the negotiations is not only who remains on the list, but also for how long. Until now, individual sanctions have been renewed every six months, and a proposal is now on the table to renew them all at once for a year. According to information from Brussels, Slovakia specifically rejected this format. Aktuality.sk ↗

The difference is a practical one. Under an annual cycle, the opportunity to block the list arises once every twelve months; under a six-month cycle, twice as often.

A similar scene played out in the spring as well. The sanctions were renewed on March 14 that time, and Slovakia insisted until the last moment on removing the same two names — that time together with Hungary. It did not succeed. The Council at that time did not renew sanctions on two other individuals and removed five deceased persons from the list. Danas ↗

Limits of this account

Information about the course of the negotiations comes from diplomats via Ukraine's European Pravda and Britain's Financial Times, whose findings on the positions of France, Italy and Croatia are picked up by the Serbian daily Danas. It is therefore not based on an official statement from the Council — which, as of this article's deadline, had not announced an agreement, nor had it announced that the negotiations had failed. As of this hour, we found no report on the outcome of the announced second Monday session, so it could have ended any way at all.

The reason for France's about-face is not publicly documented. We know only how one diplomat described it, and that is a claim, not evidence. The same applies to the motive of Italy and Croatia, which no one has explained.

The Slovak government has not publicly justified its demand. From Brussels we know what it is demanding, not why — and that is a distinction easily lost in the reading.

And finally: even if the sanctions were indeed to lapse on Tuesday, this would not mean the end of the sanctions regime against Russia. It is one of several regimes — the oldest one, tied to the undermining of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Sectoral economic sanctions have their own cycle and are not affected by this round of negotiations.

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*Illustrative photo: the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, seat of the Council of the European Union. Author JLogan, Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY 3.0.*