France and Slovakia support removing Alisher Usmanov from the EU sanctions list. Renewal of sanctions against Russia postponed for seven days

Ambassadors of the member states of the European Union have decided to postpone the expiration of the sanctions lists against Russia by seven days, until September 22. The decision was made after they failed to reach an agreement on renewing the measures for another six months.

The dispute centers on the Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov and his possible removal from the sanctions list. European diplomats said that France had joined Slovakia in supporting Usmanov’s delisting, citing national security reasons. The information was reported by August Hakansson of France 24.