Ukraine will propose to the EU that sanctions be imposed on ten more Russian oligarchs. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced this on Monday before the start of the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, as reported by the news agency Ukrinform and the news outlet Ukrainska Pravda. On 12 October, the day of the meeting, according to Ukrainska Pravda, the EU adopted the largest expansion of personal sanctions against Russia to date; according to the report, the new sanctions list includes almost 1,600 natural and legal persons.
“During a war there are never enough measures. Our position is that, for example, the removal of two Russian oligarchs from the sanctions list was a wrong step, a wrong decision,” Sybiha said according to Ukrinform. “That is why we want to propose imposing sanctions on ten more Russian oligarchs.” According to Ukrainska Pravda, he did not name them.
Sybiha spoke before the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. He hopes that the 22nd sanctions package – “one of the strongest” – will be adopted as quickly as possible, he said according to Ukrinform. According to Ukrainska Pravda, Sybiha also demanded that pressure on Russia must include new sanctions, the country’s international isolation and the full use of frozen Russian assets.
What lies behind the dispute over the list
On 22 September, according to Ukrinform, the Council of the EU decided to extend the restrictive measures against persons responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial independence, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine by 36 months – until 22 September 2029. At the same time, the Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov were removed from the list. Ukrainska Pravda cites the same date and the same two names.
According to Sybiha, Kyiv insists that sanctions pressure on Russia during the war must only increase and must not be weakened by removing individual persons. Ukrainska Pravda summarises this position in the minister’s words: during a war there would “never be enough” of “it” – meaning sanctions.
Another decision with symbolic force
Also on 12 October, according to Ukrainska Pravda, the Council of the EU decided to extend the mechanism of restrictive measures against the proliferation and use of chemical weapons by five years – until 30 October 2031. It is the first time in history that a sanctions regime has been renewed for such a long period, the news outlet writes.
For Ukraine, the meeting in Luxembourg is about more than individual names. The 22nd package, whose rapid adoption Sybiha is urging, is according to him to be among the strongest the EU has ever launched against Russia. Whether the ten additional oligarchs proposed by Kyiv will actually be added to the list is open – the proposal has so far only been announced, not decided. What is clear from the reports by Ukrinform and Ukrainska Pravda is only this: the Ukrainian government will not accept the removal of Fridman and Usmanov and is countering it with an expansion of personal sanctions.
Editor’s note: This text summarises the statements of the Ukrainian foreign minister and the EU decisions reported by Ukrinform and Ukrainska Pravda. It does not contain an assessment of the prospects of success of the Ukrainian proposal.
