(BRUSSELS) – European Union ambassadors have failed to reach agreement on extending sanctions against Russia, postponing the decision until Monday, 14th September, one day before the current measures expire on 15th September.
The main sticking point remains demands by certain member states to lift restrictions on Russian businesspeople, with Slovakia insisting that oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman be removed from the sanctions list. France has now joined Slovakia in seeking Usmanov’s removal from the blacklist, further complicating negotiations.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Rikard Jozwiak, EU ambassadors scheduled another meeting for Monday, 14th September, one day before the deadline for adopting the decision. “The ambassadors again failed to extend the sanctions today.
Another meeting will be held on Monday, one day before the September 15 deadline. Slovakia still wants Usmanov and Fridman removed from the list, but the issue is now becoming even more complicated, as France also wants Usmanov removed from the blacklist,” Jozwiak noted. The timely extension of restrictions against the aggressor country remains under threat.
The European Union has taken another step toward imposing new sanctions against Russia. On 2nd September, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was advancing a new proposal for restrictions against 1,600 entities, while not ruling out an expansion of the list.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the United States to support Graham’s sanctions package, stating: “It needs to be introduced now.”
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