France proposes removing Russian businessman from EU sanctions list

France has proposed removing Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov from the European Union’s sanctions list following a request from international partners, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said.

Speaking to France 2, Barrot said the proposal concerned “the oligarch whom some of our international partners had drawn our attention to.” He said France had concluded that removing Usmanov from the list was in its interests and would not diminish the significance of the sanctions imposed by the EU.

“It was proposed to remove from the list the oligarch whom some of our international partners had drawn our attention to. It was decided that this was in our interests and that it in no way detracts from the significance of the thousands and hundreds of sanctions we have already imposed,” Barrot said.

Addressing criticism from Kyiv over the EU’s decision, Barrot said that one person had been removed from a sanctions list of approximately 3,000 individuals. He added that he had already explained the reasons for the decision to the Ukrainian side.

Barrot also said that EU sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities would now be renewed every three years, instead of every six months as previously.

By Sabina Mammadli