EU ambassadors again fail to agree on extending sanctions against Russia: two countries opposed

They decided to meet on Monday — the day before the deadline, 15 September.

The ambassadors of the European Union countries 11 September again failed to agree on extending the personal sanctions imposed over Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The current measures expire already on 15 September, and extending them requires unanimous support from all 27 EU member states.

The lack of agreement was reported by Radio Free Europe editor Richard Ožvjak. According to his information, Slovakia and France currently have objections to the decision.

This is not the first failed attempt by EU ambassadors to agree on the restrictions. During the previous discussion on 3 September, Slovakia blocked the decision.

Most EU countries support continuing the personal sanctions for 12 months at a time instead of the current six months. Bratislava insists on keeping the six-month term.

The Slovak side argues that the situation may change, particularly if the war ends, and therefore the sanction lists need to be reviewed more frequently.

According to Ožvjak, Slovakia is also seeking the removal of two Russian billionaires from the sanctions list — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.

“But the issue has now become even more complicated, because France also wants to remove Usmanov from the blacklist,” Ožvjak said.

The current EU personal sanctions regime for actions directed against the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine is in force until 15 September 2026. Therefore the ambassadors will hold another meeting on Monday — the day before the deadline.