The European Union has decided to remove sanctions against two Russian businessmen with ties to President Vladimir Putin, according to Il Post. The two men are Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, identified by Il Sole 24 ORE as the oligarchs dropped from the EU sanctions list.
The decision drew sharp criticism from Kyiv, which called it shameful and unjustified, la Repubblica reported. ANSA also reported Ukrainian anger over the move, describing the two men as oligarchs who were spared.
The agreement among EU member states did not come without internal friction. Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that Europe remains divided on the sanctions question, and that EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called for more pressure rather than less.
The reporting available does not specify the legal reasoning behind the delisting, the timing of when the sanctions were lifted, or which member states pushed for the decision. Those details were not included in the source material.
The episode highlights the difficulty of maintaining a unified European position on sanctions against Russian figures nearly four years into the war in Ukraine. While the EU has repeatedly renewed broad sanctions packages, individual delistings require unanimous agreement among member states, giving any single government leverage to seek exceptions.
What to watch next: whether the EU publishes its formal justification for removing Usmanov and Fridman, and whether Kyiv's objections prompt any reconsideration or further sanctions designations in response.
