Putin’s Dream Comes True: EU Sanctions Unity Shatters

What Vladimir Putin has long hoped for is now happening: the European Union's united front on sanctions against Russia is showing serious fractures.

This week, France and Luxembourg succeeded in getting two Russian oligarchs — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — removed from the EU sanctions list. They are the first major oligarchs to escape EU sanctions, though both remain on US and UK lists.

Why This Matters

Yulia Starostina, an expert who has long studied Putin's inner circle, says that sanctioning oligarchs has been "practically the most useless of all Western sanctions". She argues it has actually helped Putin's government by tying oligarchs to the Kremlin and locking their money inside Russia.

She writes in The Bell newsletter that it would have been smarter to offer oligarchs a way off the sanctions list in exchange for something useful — like condemning the war or helping Ukraine.

Putin's Wish Comes True

Starostina says the Kremlin has wanted exactly this for a long time: EU countries putting their own interests ahead of the joint sanctions policy.

"Other EU countries will be much more reluctant to support sanctions that conflict with their own national interests," she warns. She points to Greece and Malta opposing sanctions on Russian oil shipping, and Central European countries having interests tied to Russian gas.

The Reasons Behind the Deal

France pushed to remove Usmanov's sanctions because of two French businessmen who were jailed in Azerbaijan. Usmanov is a friend of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and in exchange for lifting the sanctions, Aliyev promised to free the French businessmen.

Luxembourg wanted to lift Fridman's sanctions because he demanded €14 billion in compensation for his frozen assets.

The Cracks Were Already There

The EU's sanctions front has been cracking for a while. In July, France and Italy opposed a visa ban on Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine. Italy and Bulgaria have also opposed sanctions on Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Last week, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said Russian citizens should be able to get EU visas like everyone else. "I am worried that some believe there should be no relations with Russia even after the war ends. That would be a huge mistake," he told reporters.

In short: The EU's unity on Russia sanctions is breaking down. France and Luxembourg got two oligarchs off the list, and other countries are increasingly putting their own interests first. For Putin, this is exactly what he has been waiting for.