EU fails to agree on extending sanctions against Putin and Lavrov

The EU's Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) has once again failed to reach an agreement on extending the European Union's sanctions against Russia over violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and has scheduled its next meeting for Monday 21 September.

As reported by European Pravda's correspondent in Brussels, a decision on extending EU sanctions against Russia over violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity has been postponed until 21 September.

"The ambassadors met at Coreper this morning and failed to reach an agreement on extending the sanctions. It was agreed that the discussion would continue on Monday," one of European Pravda's sources said.

The sanctions are due to expire at midnight on Tuesday 22 September.

The EU sanctions regime against Russia over violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty covers almost 3,000 individuals and entities deemed responsible for Russia's war against Ukraine, including Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

As European Pravda reported, on 14 September the EU extended the sanctions regime concerning violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty for seven days, as Slovakia and France continue to insist that two Russian oligarchs be removed from the sanctions list.

Earlier, European Pravda sources in French diplomatic circles explained why Paris wants sanctions against Alisher Usmanov to be lifted. It later emerged that France plans to "trade" Usmanov's removal from the sanctions list for the release of several French citizens currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan.

The previous extension of the individual sanctions took place on 14 March. At that time, Slovakia also continued until the last moment to push for Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov to be removed from the list.