EU lifts sanctions against Usmanov and Fridman – Ukraine outraged

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The European Union is withdrawing sanctions against two of the most prominent Russian oligarchs. According to Der Spiegel, the decision affects Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — both names have been on EU sanctions lists for years in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. With the lifting, Brussels is sending a signal in the middle of the war that is meeting sharp criticism in Kyiv.

Why Ukraine is reacting with outrage

The Ukrainian government immediately criticized the move, calling it a shameful and unjustifiable decision. The outrage is understandable against the backdrop of ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities: any easing toward Russian capital weighs heavily as long as Moscow does not stop its offensives.

What does the step mean for EU sanctions policy?

Usmanov and Fridman had been considered in Brussels as important levers in the sanctions regime against Russian elites. With the lifting, the financial restrictions on two central figures of the Russian economy are at least partially removed. What concrete consequences the decision has for asset freezes and travel bans and whether other oligarchs could follow is not clear from the available reports.

The context: Lavrov meets Rubio, Poland shuts airports

The decision comes amid a phase with several parallel signals in the Ukraine war. As the Handelsblatt news blog reports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are meeting today in New York. At the same time, Poland shut down two airports following attacks on Ukraine — an indication of how close the Russian Air Force has now come to NATO's outer borders.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, brought a possible economic lever into play: a stop to Russian oil purchases by Western states would end the war. This means that economic issues are at the center of the New York talks, issues that go far beyond the fate of the two oligarchs.