EU extends Russia sanctions list by just one week amid dispute over Usmanov

European Union ambassadors have agreed to extend one of the bloc's sanctions regimes against Russia for only one week rather than the usual six months, journalist Rikard Jozwiak reported, citing sources.

The sanctions list, which covers roughly 3,000 individuals and entities including Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states every six months to be renewed.

The list was set to expire overnight between September 14 and 15. Member states could not agree on a fresh six-month extension because of a dispute over Usmanov: Slovakia initially demanded his removal from the list, and France later joined that push. The remaining 25 member states objected.

A one-week compromise

At a meeting in Brussels, ambassadors ultimately agreed to extend the list for just one more week, keeping Usmanov designated until their next meeting on September 22. EUobserver described the move as unprecedented since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A French diplomatic source told EUobserver that Paris was seeking to lift sanctions on Usmanov due to a specific national security issue, wanting to respond positively to international partners raising the matter. The outlet suggested those partners were Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan — Usmanov's country of birth — all of which had lobbied for his removal from the list back in March.

A source cited by the Financial Times said Paris had intervened on Usmanov's behalf as part of a prisoner-release deal with Azerbaijan, potentially involving the return of French businessman Martin Ryan. A court in Baku sentenced Ryan in March to 10 years in prison on charges of gathering military information during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.