France explained to Ukraine its decision to lift EU sanctions against oligarch Usmanov

France has advocated for the removal of Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov from the European Union’s sanctions list, allegedly in exchange for extending the remaining personal sanctions for three years at once.

This was stated by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barro. According to him, EU personal sanctions previously had to be renewed every six months, so Paris proposed changing this mechanism and setting a three-year term for the restrictions. However, he did not explain what Usmanov had to do with this.

Barro noted that the EU sanctions list includes about 3,000 individuals and entities. He emphasized that France has always supported the sanctions policy, and that he himself had previously proposed adding hundreds of people to the list: “One person was removed from the 3,000, even though I proposed hundreds, and now I’m being asked specifically about this.”

The French Foreign Minister added that the relevant explanations had already been provided to Ukraine, which had opposed such a move and publicly criticized the EU for its decisions regarding Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Friedman.

Source: France 2.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pardoned French citizen Martin Ryan, who had been sentenced in the country to 10 years in prison on espionage charges. The decision was made the day after the EU removed Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov from its sanctions list, and diplomats link these events to agreements regarding the release of French citizens.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga criticized the EU’s decision to remove Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the sanctions list. He called the decision shameful and urged EU countries to impose their own national sanctions against them.