French seeks lifting of EU sanctions on billionaire after pressure by Azerbaijan, diplomats say

France has been urging the EU to lift sanctions on Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov after coming under what it says is pressure from Azerbaijan as Baku holds two French nationals, three European diplomats familiar with the matter said.

European Union envoys extended the deadline for renewing Russia sanctions listings by seven days on Monday after failing to agree ‌on a six-monthly rollover of the sanctions, which requires the unanimous approval of the 27 member states.

EU diplomats said France had joined Slovakia in calling for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Usmanov after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The metals and mining mogul has launched multiple lawsuits in Europe with the ultimate goal of having the sanctions lifted, and his lawyers have contested statements in the media that were used as grounds for the sanctions.

French diplomatic sources said the decision by Paris to call for sanctions on Usmanov to be lifted was driven by national security considerations, and that France was responding positively to approaches from international partners regarding the Usmanov case.

The European diplomats said Paris had indicated in private that Baku was using Usmanov to "blackmail" it over the case of two French citizens held in Azerbaijan, one of whom Paris has said is being held arbitrarily. Baku has sentenced the French national on espionage charges.

The link to Azerbaijan was first reported by the Financial Times on Monday. It was not clear why Azerbaijan was seeking Usmanov's delisting although President Ilham Aliyev has previously lobbied for his delisting.

The diplomats said France believed Baku's move was supported by Qatar and Kazakhstan.

Several other leaders in the region and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, have previously called for Usmanov to be taken off the EU's sanctions list.

The foreign ministries of Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Qatar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

France's Foreign ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the Azerbaijan connection.

DIFFICULT TIES

Ties between Azerbaijan and France have long been strained, and worsened in 2023 when Azerbaijan regained control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a move that triggered an exodus of 120,000 ethnic Armenians living there. Baku reacted angrily to French military support for Armenia, with which Azerbaijan has fought two wars in the past three decades.

France has accused Azerbaijan-linked groups of carrying out disinformation campaigns over the last year, and said Baku has been seeking to fan the flames of riots and independence demands in France's Pacific island of New Caledonia.

The EU sanctions designations, which target nearly 3,000 companies and individuals with asset freezes and travel bans, had been due to expire on September 15. The expiry date has been pushed back to September 22.

One diplomat said member states were now watching to see how Paris would seek to break the impasse before next week or risk undermining both its credibility as a supporter of Ukraine and the EU's sanctions process.