Lithuania has frozen Friedman's and Usmanov's assets as part of its sanctions

Lithuania has invoked its national sanctions mechanism and frozen the assets of Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov. This decision was made after they were removed from the European Union’s sanctions list.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys announced this on the social media platform X. The head of the Foreign Ministry emphasized that the lifting of EU sanctions against these two oligarchs sends the wrong signal. According to him, representatives of influential circles in Russia continue to benefit from the war against Ukraine and support the aggression, so sanctions pressure on Russia and its allies must only be intensified.

The removal of Usmanov and Friedman from the EU sanctions list occurred as part of a decision to extend general restrictions regarding violations of Ukraine’s territorial integrity for three years, at the request of Slovakia, France, and Luxembourg. However, Lithuania decided to take independent measures and freeze their assets on its territory.

Source: Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys’s X social media account.

Sibiga announced new sanctions against Russian oligarchs Friedman and Usmanov.

Earlier, Sibiga criticized the lifting of sanctions against Usmanov and Friedman.