00:02The European Union has agreed to remove Uzbek Russian oligarch Alisha Ousmanov from its sanctions list of organizations and individuals
00:11accused of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine.
00:13To the dismay of Brussels, France had linked Ousmanov's delisting to a prisoner release with Azerbaijan.
00:20A second Russian oligarch, Mikhail Friedman, was also removed after Slovakia vetoed his continued listing.
00:26Luxembourg had argued that if Ousmanov was removed, Friedman should be too.
00:30Friedman has filed a 14 billion euros claim against Luxembourg over his frozen assets.
00:35Ambassadors sealed the compromise on Tuesday after two weeks of talks that brought the bloc's sanctions regime to the brink
00:42of collapse.
00:42As a way to offset the pain of delisting the two high-profile businessmen, the EU has extended its individual
00:48sanctions on Russia for an unprecedented 36-month.
00:51As negotiations neared the final stage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had publicly called on the bloc to keep Ousmanov and
00:59Friedman on the blacklist.
01:01Thank you very much.
01:01Thank you very much.
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