The sanctions run for six months and must therefore be renewed every six months. That was due again on Wednesday, but after France demanded that oligarch and former Arsenal owner Alisher Usmanov be removed from the list, the decision to renew the sanctions has been postponed.
Usmanov has been considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but according to The Financial Times, France wants to remove him from the list to facilitate the release of French citizens imprisoned in Azerbaijan.
According to AFP, EU diplomats are reluctant to give the impression that the bloc is easing its sanctions. Several countries are also said to want to extend the sanction periods to one year.
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