France pushes to lift EU sanctions on Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov

The European Union’s unified sanctions wall against Russia just developed a crack, and France is holding the chisel. Paris has demanded that Uzbek-born Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov be removed from the EU’s sanctions list, a move that forced the bloc into an awkward last-minute extension of the measures to avoid an embarrassing lapse. France isn’t alone. Slovakia has joined the push, seeking the delisting of both Usmanov and fellow Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman. Together, the two countries blocked the unanimous renewal that the sanctions package requires, turning what should have been procedural housekeeping into a full-blown diplomatic standoff. A one-week lifeline The sanctions were originally set to expire on September 15, 2026. With France and Slovakia refusing to sign off, EU ambassadors scrambled on September 14 to agree on a one-week extension, pushing the deadline to September 22. That buys time for negotiations, but not much. France has cited a “specific national security issue” as justification for its position, along with the need to accommodate international partners. Speculation has pointed toward potential lobbying from countries like Azerbaijan and Turkey, t...