Ukraine considers the European Union's decision not to extend sanctions against Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman to be strange, Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk has stated.
"We consider the EU's decision not to extend sanctions against Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman to be very strange. We see no change in circumstances that could justify this. Russia is continuing the war, and their ties to the Kremlin, which served as grounds for the sanctions, have not gone anywhere," Vlasiuk said in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
He noted that this decision was made against the backdrop of increased sanctions pressure from the United States and the adoption of a sanctions bill by Senator Lindsey Graham.
"Russia is trying to split the EU's unity, and it is important not to let this crack widen and turn into a weakening of our joint sanctions policy. The lifting of restrictions against individual Russian businessmen must not become a new practice," Vlasiuk emphasized.
According to him, Ukraine will propose new sanction solutions, particularly targeting Russian oligarchs associated with the Russian military-industrial complex.
"Now it is important to focus on increasing sanctions pressure on Russia," he stressed.
At the same time, Vlasiuk welcomed the EU's decision to extend for 36 months the sanctions against individuals and organizations responsible for undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence.
