France in ‘game of chicken’ with EU on Russia sanctions, as clock ticks to expiry deadline

Emergency EU talks on the future of Russia sanctions are going backwards, with France at risk of causing serious harm to European cohesion if they fall apart. The French ambassador to the EU, Philippe Léglise-Costa, insisted on removing a top Russian oligarch from the blacklist at a meeting in the EU Council on Friday (18 September), on pain of letting the whole list of some 3,000 Russian names legally expire at midnight on Tuesday, diplomatic sources said, in what would amount to a fiasco of epic proportions for Europe. The talks will resume on Monday, but the EU27 agreed there would be no more deadline extensions, after Europe already pushed back the expiration date by one week (from 15 September), in the first-ever move of its kind since the full Ukraine war began in 2022. Slovakia has also backed France, but Bratislava is seen as too weak to veto the sanctions renewal on its own, if Paris changed its mind. But the situation moved backward on Friday, because Luxembourg also insisted it would only let France get its way if the EU delisted another Russian oligarch for the sake of its own interests. “It is hard to imagine delisting one without the other,” an EU diplomat said. “The meeting has ended – no deal today,” a second diplomat said. To read this story, log in or subscribeEnjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a subscriber for as low as €1,75 per week.Read without limitsAlready a subscriber? Login