The inner circle of the Russian leadership and those who facilitate Russian aggression must remain on the sanctions list, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha has stated, commenting on the recent decisions by EU Permanent Representatives (Coreper).
"Lifting sanctions on key Russian regime-linked oligarchs such as Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman is difficult to understand - especially as Russia intensifies its terror against our people and its targeted campaign to destroy Ukraine’s economy. Personal sanctions are an effective tool to constrain, one by one, those who sustain Russia’s war machine. These individuals must be named and held accountable," Sybiha wrote on the social network X on Monday.
He added that extending individual sanctions for 12 months instead of the current 6 months would send a clear signal to the Kremlin that Europe is not giving in to intimidation through reckless escalation by Russia.
"Sanctions only work when they deliver long-term, sustained and irreversible pressure for as long as Russia continues its aggression," the minister summarized.
As reported, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) met again on Monday to discuss extending the sanctions regime imposed over violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and, to give member states additional time to comprehensively study proposals for extending sanctions, agreed to extend the regime by 7 days—until midnight on Tuesday, September 22.
"Extending the sanctions lists is critical to further undermining the Russian war machine and maintaining pressure on individuals and entities that support, facilitate, and benefit from its activities. This issue is a priority for the presidency," emphasized a spokesperson for the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Earlier, Politico, citing its sources among EU diplomats, reported that EU countries failed to agree on extending one of the anti-Russian sanctions programs. Ambassadors were supposed to reach unanimous agreement on Monday, as the regime—which involves freezing the assets of about 3,000 individuals and companies—expires on Tuesday, but Slovakia demanded that the bloc remove Russian businessmen Usmanov and Fridman from the sanctions list, while France sought a compromise by proposing to exclude only Usmanov. Most other countries were unwilling to consider removing anyone from the list. Another part of the discussion concerned whether to extend the measures for six months, as has been customary since 2014, or renew them for 12 months: Slovakia was reluctant to support the longer term.
