EU extends Ukraine sanctions for three years but drops Usmanov and Fridman, prompting Ukrainian criticism
On 22 September, the EU Council extended Ukraine-related sanctions for 36 months until 22 September 2029, the first time the regime has been renewed for three years instead of the usual six-month cycle. In the same decision, the EU removed Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list. Ukraine called the delisting "shameful" and unjustified, and the Baltic states announced national sanctions in response. A day later, on 23 September, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pardoned French citizen Martin Ryan, who had been sentenced to ten years in prison on espionage charges that France rejects.
Key points
- On 22 September, the EU Council extended Ukraine-related sanctions by 36 months, until 22 September 2029 — the first three-year renewal of the regime.
- The same decision removed Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the sanctions list; both were originally added on 28 February 2022.
- Reporting ties the delisting to French lobbying linked to French citizens detained in Azerbaijan, and to Luxembourg's push on behalf of Fridman, who is suing Luxembourg for at least $16 billion over frozen assets.
- Latvia was the only EU member state to publicly oppose the delisting and ultimately abstained rather than vote against the package as a whole.
- Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called the delisting "shameful and unjustified"; sanctions commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk said Ukraine sees no changed circumstances to justify it.
- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced national sanctions against Usmanov and Fridman following the EU move.
- On 23 September, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pardoned 20 people, including French citizen Martin Ryan, CEO of Mercorama, who had been detained in Azerbaijan in December 2023 and sentenced to ten years on 16 March 2026 on espionage charges France rejects.
Why it matters
The 22 September decision is the first time the EU has renewed its Ukraine-related sanctions regime for three years rather than the usual six-month cycle, "cementing" the framework until September 2029 even as it removed two of its most prominent Russian designations. Ukraine publicly condemned the delisting as shameful, signalling a sharp disagreement with key EU members. The episode shows how bilateral concerns — France's push to free citizens held in Azerbaijan, Luxembourg's exposure to Fridman's $16 billion lawsuit — can override the unified front the sanctions regime is meant to project.
What happened
On 22 September, the Council of the European Union extended restrictive measures against persons responsible for undermining or threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence for another 36 months, until 22 September 2029. The package, which covers more than 3,000 individuals and legal entities, was renewed for three years instead of the usual six-month review cycle — a change the EU reportedly had to engineer through a legal workaround after missing the renewal deadline. In the same decision, the Council removed Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list. Both had been added on 28 February 2022, days after the start of the full-scale invasion.
Reporting ties the delisting to French lobbying: France, Slovakia and Luxembourg backed the move, and Paris is reported to have pushed for Usmanov's removal in an effort to secure the release of French citizens held in Azerbaijan. Latvia was the only EU member state to publicly oppose the removal and ultimately abstained rather than voted against the package as a whole. The European Commission declined to publicly explain the delisting.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called the decision "shameful and unjustified," and Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the President's Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, said Ukraine sees no changed circumstances that could justify lifting the measures. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced they would impose their own national sanctions against Usmanov and Fridman. Vlasiuk said Ukraine would propose new EU sanctions against Russian oligarchs linked to the military-industrial complex, naming Vladimir Lisin and Vladimir Potanin.
A day later, on 23 September, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree pardoning 20 people, including French citizen Martin Ryan, CEO of Mercorama. Ryan had been detained in Azerbaijan in December 2023 and sentenced on 16 March 2026 to ten years in prison on espionage charges that France rejects. Aliyev cited the pardoned individuals' "personal qualities, health, family circumstances" and other reasons. France welcomed the pardon as a "humanitarian gesture."
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian officials framed the delisting as a betrayal of the unified position Ukraine expected from its partners. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called the move "shameful and unjustified," and sanctions commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk said Ukraine sees no changed circumstances — Russia continues the war, and the oligarchs' ties to the Kremlin remain — that could justify lifting the measures. Ukrainian outlets stressed that the decision to remove Usmanov and Fridman was not coordinated with Kyiv, and contrasted France, Luxembourg and Slovakia's role in pushing the delisting with Latvia's public defence of Ukrainian interests. The episode is being used in Kyiv to argue for new sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs connected to the military-industrial complex, with Lisin and Potanin named as candidates for the next EU package.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on responsibility for the delisting. French and EU diplomatic sources quoted by Reuters said Azerbaijan was "using" Usmanov to blackmail France over the French detainees; Baku publicly rejected that characterisation. There is also disagreement over the degree of opposition within the EU: Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said Latvia stood alone in opposing the delisting and that Estonia and Lithuania had already agreed, but Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna publicly criticised the move and Estonia subsequently announced its own national sanctions.
Background
The EU's Ukraine-related sanctions regime was established in March 2014 and now covers more than 3,000 individuals and legal entities. Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov were added on 25 February 2022; Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman were added on 28 February 2022. Usmanov moved to Uzbekistan in 2022 and in October 2024 Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court confiscated his Ukrainian assets; Fridman has been wanted by Ukraine's SBU since December 2023 and his Ukrainian assets, including Alfa-Bank (now Sense Bank), have been nationalised. According to earlier Radio Liberty reporting cited by other outlets, lobbying for Usmanov's removal also involved Turkey's President Erdogan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan working through Slovakia. The EU reportedly missed the renewal deadline and had to use a legal workaround to prevent the sanctions package from collapsing.