France kowtows to Putin and removes EU sanctions on Usmanov

President Emmanuel Macron of France deserves heavy criticism for removing European Union sanctions on one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top allies, Alisher Usmanov.

As the Financial Times reports, France was willing to blow up the EU’s entire Russian sanctions regime unless the EU waived sanctions on Usmanov. Luxembourg then demanded that another Putin crony, Mikhail Fridman, also be removed from EU sanctions. Usmanov and Fridman were sanctioned along with other Russian oligarchs following Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The intent of these sanctions was the same then as it is now: to punish Putin and his enablers by cutting off their financial resources.