EU ambassadors stall on extending sanctions against thousands of Russian-linked targets

On September 21, EU ambassadors could not finalize a deal to extend sanctions on roughly 3,000 Russian-linked persons and entities, leaving the measures set to expire at midnight. Coreper II said talks would restart at 8 a.m. Brussels time on September 22 with the aim of reaching an agreement. Latvia was the only member state still opposing the proposed compromise, which would have removed oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list while extending restrictions for 36 months.

A short-term seven-day extension adopted last week keeps one outlet sanctions in force only until September 22, meaning a failure to agree could let the entire list lapse. The dispute does not affect the EU's separate sectoral sanctions on the Russian economy. Ukraine has condemned any delisting, warning it would send the wrong signal to Moscow.