EU Countries Agree To Extend Sanctions Against Belarusians And Russians For Three Years

European Union countries have agreed to extend personal sanctions against Belarusian and Russian citizens and companies for three years instead of the previous six-month periods. The Czech television channel CT24 reports, citing diplomatic sources.

The decision was part of a compromise agreement under which two Russian billionaires — Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov — will be removed from the EU sanctions list.

A “written procedure” will now be launched for the measure to be formally approved.

The agreement was reached on September 21 at a meeting of the permanent representatives of EU countries in Brussels. Over the previous two weeks, representatives of the countries had repeatedly tried to agree on extending the restrictions. The sanctions were initially due to expire on September 15, but EU countries agreed to temporarily extend them for another week to continue negotiations. Without a new decision, the sanctions would expire on September 22.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha opposed removing Usmanov and Fridman from the list. He said both businessmen had been included on the sanctions list because of their ties to the Russian leadership and called for the restrictions not to be weakened.

It is noted that Slovakia had previously insisted on removing Usmanov from the list. France joined the demand, citing national security concerns. Later, Luxembourg also proposed removing Fridman. The Financial Times linked France’s position to negotiations with Azerbaijan over the release of several French citizens detained there.