EU ambassadors failed to reach agreement on extending sanctions against Russia: Slovakia and France did not change their positions
On Monday, September 14, European Union ambassadors were unable to reach a consensus on extending individual sanctions against Russia for violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The issue will be reconsidered later that same day.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by "European Pravda," citing three EU diplomats.
An extraordinary meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU Member States (Coreper) began in Brussels at 9:00 a.m. on September 14.
According to one of the publication’s sources, EU countries were unable to reach the necessary consensus during the meeting. Representatives of the member states agreed to hold another meeting later that day, though the exact start time has not yet been determined.
The European Union must reach a decision by September 15—the date on which the current individual sanctions expire.
Sanctions may expire for more than 3,000 individuals and companies
If EU countries fail to agree on extending the restrictions by the deadline, the sanctions will automatically expire for more than 3,000 individuals and legal entities.
Most of them are Russian nationals.
These are individual sanctions imposed by the European Union in response to violations of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Slovakia and France demand Usmanov’s removal
According to "European Pravda", as of the morning of September 14, Slovakia and France had not agreed to drop their demands regarding the sanctions list.
Slovakia insists on removing Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov from the list.
France joined the demand regarding Usmanov as early as Friday, September 11.
Thus, it is the positions of certain member states that are currently preventing a consensus from being reached on extending the sanctions.
