EU lifts Usmanov sanctions; Azerbaijan frees Frenchman — SkimNews
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- Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev pardoned French national Martin Ryan — jailed since December 2023 on espionage charges he denied — within hours of the EU lifting sanctions on Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman; Ryan was one of 20 prisoners pardoned.
- Slovakia initially pushed to remove Usmanov from the EU sanctions list, with France backing the move citing national security concerns; the broader package covering 3,000+ individuals and entities was extended for three years.
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha bitterly criticized the decision, saying Moscow was "celebrating" because it gained "a sense of impunity, the humiliation of the EU, and division among Europeans."
- Latvia initially opposed the lifting but abstained and announced its own national sanctions on both men; Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said French President Macron separately agreed to start talks on Latvia's "accession to the French nuclear deterrence initiative."
- Alisher Usmanov was cited by the EU in 2022 as having "particularly close ties" to Putin and benefiting from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea; both oligarchs remain sanctioned by the UK and US.
- A second Frenchman, Anass Derraz, remains jailed in Azerbaijan on charges of accepting a Russian bribe, and Ryan's co-defendant Azad Mamedli, sentenced to 12 years, was not among the pardoned.
Why it matters: The EU lifted sanctions on two Putin-linked oligarchs — Usmanov and Fridman — while France simultaneously secured a prisoner's release from Azerbaijan. Ukraine called it a signal of "impunity," and Latvia's PM announced separate nuclear-deterrence talks with France, exposing the side deals accompanying the vote.
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