EU ambassadors reached a compromise on September 22, 2026, to extend the sanctions regime protecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity for 36 months, until September 22, 2029.
Longer renewal cycle
The lists were previously reviewed every six months. About 3,000 individuals and entities remain under the measures. The Council still has to formally approve the decision, which requires unanimity.
Two billionaires dropped
Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman were left out of the renewed sanctions. France asked for Usmanov to be exempted to help secure the release of French citizens detained in Azerbaijan, given his reported ties to Baku. Luxembourg sought Fridman’s removal because he has sued the Grand Duchy for nearly €15 billion.
Latvia opposed the delistings but agreed to abstain, breaking the deadlock. “To maintain the scheme, we have reached a difficult compromise,” Irish Presidency sources said.
Kyiv’s reaction
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the response to Russia’s escalation “should be tougher sanctions, not the opposite.”
Sources
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