EU sanctions dispute: Latvia stood alone against a 26-country compromise

A dispute erupted within the European Union last week over revisions to the sanctions list targeting Russian oligarchs. Twenty-six EU member states reached a compromise that included removing several Russian businessmen, among them Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, from the list, while Latvia held out against the decision longer than any other country and ended up isolated.

A call from the presidency

The tension reportedly escalated to the point where the prime minister of the country holding the EU presidency called Latvia's prime minister late in the evening to ask about the reasons behind Latvia's position. Latvia's foreign minister, speaking from New York during the UN General Assembly session, said the country's diplomats had worked intensively on the matter.

Related developments

According to available information, the removal of two Russian nationals from the EU list was also connected to France, which reached an agreement with Azerbaijan for the release of detained French intelligence personnel in Baku. Latvia is currently still litigating against Fridman before the Court of Justice of the European Union over sanctions previously imposed on him, from which he has now been released at the EU level. Latvia's prime minister said that, around the same time, he reached an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron on military cooperation.

A precedent from 2025

A similar situation occurred in spring 2025, when Gulbakhora Ismailova — Usmanov's sister, who owns property in Jurmala's Dzintari district — was also removed from EU sanctions. Estonia at the time added her to its own national sanctions list, while Latvia cited a lack of legal grounds to do so. In September 2025, Latvia imposed national sanctions on Usmanov and Fridman, but Ismailova was not included — her property in Jurmala and freedom of movement in Latvia remain unrestricted.