EU fails to agree on Russian sanctions, voting to continue on 22 September

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states (Coreper) held a meeting in Brussels on the morning of Tuesday 22 September, and was unable to adopt a decision regarding the extension of sanctions for violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty (the so-called "sanctions against Putin"), postponing the attempt to vote via written procedure.

The European Union has thus far been unable to extend sanctions against Russians for violating Ukraine's territorial integrity.

"Coreper convened for a meeting this morning to discuss extending the sanctions lists. No agreement was reached. The Irish presidency decided to extend the voting time under the written procedure," one of European Pravda's interlocutors reported.

He added that the voting will continue until 15:00 Kyiv time.

An attempt to adopt a compromise decision via written procedure was launched on the evening of 21 September.

Ireland, with the support of the EU's most influential states, proposed a compromise: to extend the sanctions regime for violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty (the so-called "sanctions against Putin") immediately for 36 months (rather than six, as is customary) in exchange for removing Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the lists.

The removal of the two Russian oligarchs is a demand of Slovakia and France. It is worth noting that Paris is insisting on the removal of only Usmanov's candidacy.

The vote was not completed on 21 September due to the position of Latvia, which publicly "blocked" removing Russian oligarchs from the sanctions lists.

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 and leading oligarchs, as well as former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Currently, personal sanctions against Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, former Ukrainian MP Viktor Medvedchuk, Viktor Yanukovych and roughly 3,000 other individuals and legal entities responsible for the war against Ukraine remain in force until midnight on 22 September.

As reported by European Pravda, on 14 September, Coreper extended the sanctions regime for violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty for seven days as Slovakia and France continued to insist that the 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" Usmanov's delisting for the release of several French citizens who are currently in prison in Azerbaijan.

The last extension of personal sanctions took place on 14 March. On that occasion, too, Slovakia pushed until the last minute for Fridman and Usmanov to be removed from the list.