EU extends Russia sanctions for one week only, after France insists on delisting Usmanov

EU countries have extended talks on Russia sanctions for one week after France insisted on delisting a Russian billionaire on “national security” grounds, prompting speculation of a secret deal between Paris and Baku or Moscow. The existing Russia blacklist, of some 3,000 individuals and entities, requires all 27 EU states to agree to keep it in force every six months. And it was due to expire at midnight on Tuesday (15 September) because first Slovakia, then France, said they wanted to delist Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, while the 25 others did not agree. But EU ambassadors decided in Brussels on Monday to extend the list with Usmanov on it – for one week only – pending another meeting on 22 September, in an unprecedented move since the start of the full Ukraine war in 2022. “It means we agree to disagree, for one week,” said an EU diplomat. A French diplomatic source also told EUobserver on Monday: “We [France] have a specific national security issue and wish to respond positively to our international partners, who are approaching us regarding Mr. Usmanov.” The EU imposed a visa-ban and asset-freeze on Usmanov, an Uzbek-born metals tycoon, in 2022, on grounds of his “particularly close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin”, as did the UK (2022) and US (2023). France's mention of "international partners" might refer to Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, who already lobbied to get him off in March. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described Usmanov as a "philanthropist", who was "promoting the opening of central Asian countries to the West, while also making a significant contribution to strengthening human ties within the Turkic world", in a letter circulated to EU capitals at the time. And Turkey's ally, Azerbaijan, has a significant card to play - Martin Ryan, a French businessman whom it has jailed on espionage grounds and whom the French foreign ministry has been lobbying to get back, in what would amount to an EU-sanctions hostage exchange if it went ahead.