EU ambassadors once again fail to extend sanctions against Putin and Ukraine’s ex-president Yanukovych

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states (Coreper) failed on Monday morning to reach an agreement on extending the EU's individual sanctions, in particular against Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian former president of Ukraine who fled the country after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.

Source: European Pravda, citing several EU diplomats

Details: It is noted that discussion regarding the extension of individual sanctions for violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine will continue in the afternoon.

The current sanctions regime, the list for which the EU began compiling back in 2014, covers individuals and legal entities responsible for actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine. Since 2022, it has included Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Russia's ruling elite, leading oligarchs and Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovych.

Background:

• The Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states (Coreper) in Brussels extended the sanctions regime over violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty for seven days on 14 September, as Slovakia and France continue to insist that two Russian oligarchs be removed from the list.
• European Pravda sources in French diplomatic circles explained why Paris wants to lift sanctions on Usmanov. It later emerged that France plans to "exchange" the removal of Usmanov from sanctions lists for the release of several of its citizens who are currently in prisons in Azerbaijan.
• The last extension of personal sanctions took place on 14 March. Then too, Slovakia pushed until the final hours on that occasion for Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov to be removed from the list.

Subscribe on Patreon to back our journalism long-term.