EU nears deal to break impasse over French request to remove Usmanov from sanctions, tell me about this news in (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/eu-nears-deal-to-break-impasse-over-french-request-to-remove-usmanov-from-sanctions/ar-AA2cFgji?ocid=BingNewsVerp)

This report covers the European Union’s diplomatic deadlock and subsequent agreement regarding the renewal of sanctions imposed in connection with Russia’s war in Ukraine:

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• The Core Dispute: The EU was facing an impending deadline to unanimously renew its sanctions regime targeting roughly 3,000 Russian individuals and entities. The process hit an impasse when France, unexpectedly joined by Slovakia, pushed to remove Russian-Uzbek metals and mining billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the sanctions blacklist.

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• France’s Motive: According to diplomatic sources, Paris’s push was tied to sensitive national security concerns involving international partnersspecifically, diplomatic pressure and hostage negotiations with Azerbaijan, which has been detaining French nationals.

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• Additional Demands: Following France’s push regarding Usmanov, Luxembourg requested that Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman also be delisted.

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• The Resolution / Breakthrough: To resolve the deadlock and avoid letting the entire sanctions regime expire, EU ambassadors reached a package deal. Under the compromise, member states agreed to delist Usmanov and Fridman, in exchange for securing a longer three-year extension on the remaining thousands of sanctioned Russian individuals and entities, rather than the usual six- or twelve-month rollover cycles.

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