“Suicide.” Zelensky condemns EU lifting of sanctions against Usmanov and Fridman

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the EU Council’s decision to remove Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from its sanctions lists “suicidal.”

He wrote about this on his Telegram channel following a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“Signals about lifting sanctions from certain Russian oligarchs look suicidal and counterproductive. Wars end through resolve and strength, not through concessions to the aggressor’s inner circle,” the Ukrainian president said.

According to Zelensky, during the meeting Ursula von der Leyen promised him to “work on adding additional Russian names to the EU sanctions lists.”

The EU Council agreed to remove Usmanov and Fridman from the sanctions list at the request of France and Slovakia — in exchange for extending the remaining personal sanctions. According to media reports, France had been pushing for the lifting of sanctions against Usmanov in order to secure the release of two French nationals held in Azerbaijan.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, for his part, called the lifting of European sanctions against Usmanov and Fridman a disgrace.