PM Kulbergs calls emergency Cabinet meeting over EU sanctions extension on Russia
Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has called an emergency government meeting after Latvia rejected a proposal to remove oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the EU sanctions list in exchange for extending sanctions on others by 36 months. Extending sanctions requires agreement from all 27 EU member states, and failure to reach one threatens the entire list.
Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs called an emergency Cabinet meeting on Tuesday over the extension of European Union sanctions against Russian individuals and entities, he announced on Twitter.
According to Kulbergs, on Monday evening Latvia received a last-minute request to state its position on a proposal to remove Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the sanctions list in exchange for extending sanctions on the remaining listed individuals by 36 months. Kulbergs stressed that extending sanctions would be a correct step, but not at the price of removing the two individuals, and said Latvia cannot accept such an offer.
All 27 member states must agree
Kulbergs explained that extending the sanctions requires the consent of all 27 EU member states. If no agreement is reached by the deadline, not just the Usmanov and Fridman question but the preservation of the entire sanctions list is at risk. The prime minister said close communication is underway with New York, where President Edgars Rinkēvičs and Foreign Minister Baiba Braže are on a working visit, as well as with the offices of Ukraine's and France's presidents and with Brussels. He also expressed surprise that Lithuania and Estonia had apparently agreed to remove the oligarchs from the list.
Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said on Monday that Latvia's position remains unchanged — sanctions must be strengthened, not weakened — and that Latvia therefore cannot agree to the proposed deal.
Due to Latvia's objections, the EU's decision-making process on lifting sanctions against Usmanov and Fridman is currently on hold. Reuters had earlier reported that EU member state representatives agreed to lift sanctions on the two, imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as part of a broader deal extending sanctions on thousands of other Russian individuals and entities for three years. France raised the demand regarding Usmanov in early September, reportedly linked to an attempt to arrange an exchange with Azerbaijan to free French citizens, while Luxembourg later made a similar demand concerning Fridman.
