Russia Demands EU Lift Sanctions on All Russians as Sanctions Deadline Looms

Russia has called on the European Union to remove sanctions against all Russian citizens and businessmen as EU governments remain divided over a proposal concerning billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the demand on Tuesday, saying Moscow believed sanctions imposed on Usmanov and Fridman should be lifted alongside restrictions against other Russian businessmen and citizens.

“We believe these sanctions must be lifted both for Usmanov and Fridman, and for all Russian businessmen, as well as for all Russian citizens,” Peskov said during his daily briefing.

He also repeated Moscow’s position that the EU’s asset freezes and travel restrictions against Russian nationals were unlawful.

The comments came as EU governments faced a fresh deadlock over a proposed compromise that would remove Usmanov and Fridman from the bloc’s sanctions list while extending restrictions on roughly 3,000 other Russia-linked individuals and entities for three years.

Latvia has rejected the proposed arrangement. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said his country could support extending the sanctions for 36 months but would not accept the removal of the two businessmen as part of the deal.

The dispute has put the renewal of the EU’s broader sanctions regime under pressure because the measures require the unanimous approval of all 27 member states. The current restrictions, which include asset freezes and travel bans, are due to expire at midnight on Tuesday unless an agreement is reached.

France and Slovakia have supported removing Usmanov from the sanctions list, while Luxembourg has pushed for Fridman to be delisted. EU diplomats are continuing negotiations in an effort to resolve the disagreement before the deadline.

The sanctions were imposed in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Any decision by the EU to renew, modify or allow the measures to expire could therefore have wider implications for the bloc’s sanctions policy toward Moscow.

For now, Russia is calling for the complete removal of sanctions, while EU governments remain divided over whether two prominent Russian businessmen should be removed from the bloc’s list as part of a broader renewal agreement.