EU ambassadors meet in Brussels to discuss Russian sanctions rollover as France and Luxembourg stall progress

EU ambassadors gathered in Brussels this week to hash out the renewal of sanctions against Russia, but what should be a routine rollover has turned into a diplomatic wrestling match. France and Luxembourg are holding up the process, each pushing to remove specific Russian oligarchs from the sanctions list, and the clock is running uncomfortably low.

The sanctions package covers roughly 3,000 individuals and entities tied to Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. It includes asset freezes and travel bans, and it requires unanimous consent from all 27 EU member states every six months to stay in effect.

The sticking points

France and Slovakia want Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov removed from the list, citing what they describe as national security concerns related to Azerbaijan. Luxembourg, meanwhile, is pushing for the delisting of Mikhail Fridman, another Russian billionaire who is at the center of a legal dispute involving $16 billion in frozen assets.

Several ambassadors have reportedly warned that yielding to these demands could erode the credibility of the entire sanctions framework.

The original expiration date for the current sanctions package was September 15, 2026. When ambassadors couldn’t reach agreement in time, they cobbled together a one-week temporary extension, pushing the deadline to September 22.

A proposed compromise floated during the talks would have extended sanctions for an unprecedented 36 months instead of the usual six, paired with the requested delistings. Latvia and other member states balked at the arrangement, leaving the proposal dead on arrival as of meetings held on September 21 and 22.

Why unanimity is both a feature and a bug

The EU’s requirement for unanimous agreement on sanctions renewals was designed to ensure that every member state has genuine buy-in. France and Luxembourg aren’t objecting to the sanctions regime in principle. They want targeted exemptions for individual billionaires, each tied to domestic legal or geopolitical considerations that have little to do with the broader goal of pressuring Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the EU not to weaken its sanctions posture against Russia.

What happens if sanctions lapse

If the 27 member states fail to reach agreement before the extended deadline, the sanctions technically expire. That would unfreeze assets, lift travel bans, and remove restrictions on roughly 3,000 individuals and entities that the EU itself has identified as supporting Russia’s war effort.

For now, the talks continue behind closed doors. The gap between a routine six-month rollover and the current stalemate is measured in exactly two names: Usmanov and Fridman. Whether 3,000 sanctions designations survive could come down to whether the EU is willing to carve out exceptions for two of them.

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