The written procedure to extend the sanctions is scheduled to run from 18:00 to 20:00 Brussels time, Radio Liberty editor Rikard Jozwiak said. Had the ambassadors failed to reach agreement, the sanctions would have expired at midnight on September 22.
The removal of the two billionaires is part of a package deal: personal sanctions against other Russian citizens and companies will be extended for three years at once. The restrictions list is normally renewed every six months or a year, and each time this requires the consent of all EU countries. Hungary and Slovakia have used that requirement to extract concessions. Last week the sanctions were extended for only seven days because of a dispute over Usmanov.
France and Slovakia demanded Usmanov's removal. According to three European diplomats, Paris did so under pressure from Azerbaijan, where at least two French citizens are being held. The Financial Times writes that this could concern the return home of French businessman Martin Ryan, sentenced in Baku to ten years on charges of gathering information during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Neither Azerbaijan nor France has confirmed this version. According to Politico, Paris declined to explain its motives, citing only a "specific national security problem."
Luxembourg then demanded that Fridman also be removed from the sanctions. The businessman is seeking $16 billion in compensation from the country for frozen assets, a dispute being heard in arbitration. According to diplomats, Luxembourg feared that keeping sanctions against Fridman while lifting them on Usmanov would weaken the state's position.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha spoke out against lifting the restrictions. He noted that nothing has changed since they were imposed, and called the move a wrong signal to Moscow at a moment when sanctions, on the contrary, need to be strengthened.
Both businessmen were added to the list on February 28, 2022. In its justification, the EU called Usmanov a pro-Kremlin oligarch with "particularly close ties" to Vladimir Putin, and Fridman an "enabler of Putin's inner circle." Both have sought to have the sanctions lifted through court.
An anonymous European official, speaking to Jozwiak, called the removal of Usmanov and Fridman a dangerous precedent. He recalled the "shameful calls of Szijjarto" — according to leaks, Hungary's foreign minister, at Sergei Lavrov's request, secured the lifting of sanctions on Usmanov's sister — and asked whether similar conversations by other European officials might later surface over the new decision.