Latvia resisted the decision to "understand and forgive" Russian billionaires until the last moment. "Latvia cannot accept such a proposal," said Kulbergs this morning. However, this did not help. Commenting on the EU's decision to exclude Russian oligarchs Usmanov and Friedman from the sanctions list, Latvia's Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told LETA that Latvia remained the last EU country opposing such a decision. Braže explained that the decision to extend the existing sanctions had to be made by midnight on Tuesday. She admitted that Latvia's proposal to further extend the decision-making period was also not supported, so there was a risk that sanctions against the remaining individuals and organizations on the list would not be extended. Braže emphasized that Latvia did not support such an option and abstained. Braže noted that the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs imposed national sanctions against Friedman and Usmanov. ## How Azerbaijan "Cancelled" European Sanctions France sought to lift EU sanctions on Russian businessman Usmanov in exchange for the release of two French citizens imprisoned in Azerbaijan. According to the Financial Times and Reuters, Paris did this under pressure from Baku. France used its veto power in the EU as leverage: it refused to support the extension of the sanctions list until Usmanov was removed from it. Usmanov's connection to Azerbaijan is not coincidental. Usmanov holds Russian and Uzbek citizenship, and a group of Turkic states is already advocating for his removal from Western sanctions lists. Previously, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pointed out in a letter to Robert Fico that Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan support lifting sanctions on Usmanov. Reuters also reports that Ilham Aliyev has previously lobbied for Usmanov's exclusion from the sanctions list. Now this issue has become linked to the fate of two French citizens in Azerbaijani prisons. According to Euronews, Uzbekistan and France have secretly agreed to lift sanctions on Usmanov, and Azerbaijan is supposed to release the French citizens as part of this scheme - Aliyev may pardon them. Baku denies that it pressured Paris. As for Friedman, Luxembourg insisted on his exclusion from the sanctions list due to the billionaire's lawsuit against the country in the Arbitration Court in The Hague. Luxembourg stated that its position in this dispute would become more vulnerable if the EU only removed Usmanov from the list.
