EU countries were unable on Monday to extend one of the bloc’s sanctions schemes against Russia, five EU diplomats told Politico. Three of them said that EU ambassadors would reconvene later on Monday for further discussions, UNN reports.
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As the publication notes, the ambassadors who met in Brussels needed to reach unanimous agreement on Monday, as the regime, which provides for the freezing of the assets of around 3,000 individuals and legal entities, expires on Tuesday.
Slovakia is demanding that the bloc remove two wealthy Russian businessmen — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — from the sanctions list. France reportedly tried to find a compromise by proposing that only Usmanov be removed from the list.
Most other countries did not want to consider removing anyone from the list while Russia is launching a record number of missiles at civilian targets in Ukraine. One diplomat said that "against the backdrop of growing hybrid threats and Russian drone attacks just 1 kilometer from the Polish border, it is difficult to believe that France is really pursuing this".
Another part of the discussion concerns whether to extend the measures for six months, as has been customary since 2014, or renew them for 12 months. Slovakia is believed to be unwilling to support the longer term.