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The European Union's top diplomat called on member states Monday to preserve sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine, as negotiators raced to finalize an extension of the measures before a deadline set for late Tuesday.
Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, told reporters in New York that the sanctions regime remains central to the bloc's strategy against Moscow. "Sanctions are a core pillar of our response to Russia's war," she said, framing the measures as a way to cut off funding for the Kremlin's war effort.
Kallas spoke on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, where she said officials are working to wrap up talks on rolling over the sanctions and to have the extension take effect without delay. "We need to have this stability," she said, referring to keeping the measures in place over a longer period.
The remarks came after a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers, as the 27-nation bloc worked against the clock to renew a sanctions framework covering almost 3,000 individuals and entities tied to the war in Ukraine. Negotiations were set to resume in Brussels, with member states aiming to reach agreement before Tuesday's deadline.
The European Union has maintained rolling sanctions against Russia since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, targeting the country's financial, energy and defense sectors as well as individuals accused of supporting the war. Because the measures require periodic renewal by unanimous consent among member states, they must be extended at regular intervals to remain in force.
Despite the push for continuity, EU countries failed Monday to close a deal that would have lifted sanctions on two Russian oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. France and Slovakia had pressed for Usmanov, a Russian-Uzbek billionaire, to be removed from the bloc's blacklist. Luxembourg responded by arguing that if Usmanov were delisted, Fridman should be removed as well, complicating efforts to reach the unanimity the bloc's sanctions process requires.
The disagreement over individual designations threatened to hold up the broader extension covering the nearly 3,000 other people and entities still subject to EU restrictions.
Kallas said the bloc's overall stance toward Russia has not shifted despite the wrangling over individual names on the sanctions list. "That's why we are also working on a new package of sanctions," she said, indicating that the EU intends to expand its measures even as it works to preserve those already in place.
With the Tuesday deadline approaching, EU diplomats face pressure to resolve the standoff over the oligarchs' status in order to secure the unanimous backing needed to extend the wider sanctions regime.
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