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Ukraine FM Sybiha Demands EU Maintain Sanctions on Kremlin Billionaires
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has criticized attempts to lift European Union sanctions on major Russian oligarchs tied to the Kremlin.
His statement followed a decision by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states in Brussels to extend the sanctions regime against individuals targeting Ukraine’s sovereignty by just 7 days.
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The temporary extension occurred because Slovakia and France insisted on removing Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov from the sanctions list.
Sybiha stated that Putin’s inner circle and those enabling aggression must remain under restriction. He noted that removing key figures like Usmanov and Fridman is difficult to understand while Russia escalates terror against Ukrainians and targets the country's economy.
Putin’s inner circle and the enablers of Russia’s aggression must remain on the sanctions list.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) September 14, 2026
Lifting sanctions on key Russian regime-linked oligarchs such as Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman is difficult to understand - especially as Russia intensifies its terror against…
The foreign minister emphasized that individual sanctions serve as an effective tool to restrict those supporting the Russian military effort and argued that these individuals must be publicly identified and held responsible.
Sybiha also advocated for extending individual sanctions for 12 months rather than the current 6-month cycle.
He said a longer timeframe would signal that Europe will not be intimidated by Russian escalation, warning that sanctions require sustained and irreversible pressure to remain effective while Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues.
Meanwhile, the bipartisan “sanctions from hell” bill targeting Russia’s foreign trade partners has stalled in the US House of Representatives.
Despite passing the Senate in an 86–11 vote, the legislation was left off the House voting schedule due to Democratic opposition over expanding executive tariff powers and internal Republican disputes over legislative priorities.
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