On 23 September 2026, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan issued a pardon for a French citizen convicted of espionage, a move that arrived a day after the European Union announced the removal of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov from its sanctions list. The timing suggests a covert bargain that also involved the de-listing of another Uzbek-Russian businessman, Mikhail Fridman and a broad renewal of the EU’s anti-Russian measures for an unprecedented 36 months.
How the EU sanctions regime was reshaped
Member states convened under the Irish EU Council presidency to decide the future of the bloc’s punitive framework. Rather than the usual six-month renewal cycle, diplomats agreed to extend the regime for three years, a change hailed as a boost to durability and predictability. At the time of the vote, the sanctions roster contained more than 2,600 individuals, organisations and entities linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The most notable adjustments were the removal of Usmanov and Fridman. Luxembourg had argued that delisting one without the other would create an uneven legal landscape, especially after Fridman filed a $16 billion claim against the Grand Duchy over frozen assets. Slovakia initially blocked the motion, warning that easing pressure on Moscow was premature, but later abstained, allowing unanimity to be reached.
The hidden exchange behind the pardons
French officials have not officially confirmed the details, but diplomatic sources indicate that France tied the de-listing of the two oligarchs to the release of two French prisoners held in Baku. One of them, Martin Ryan had been sentenced in early 2026 to ten years for gathering military intelligence on behalf of French intelligence services. The other, a water-management executive, had previously received a twelve-year term for an alleged bribe in a separate case.
In response, President Aliyev granted a pardon to the espionage-related detainee, effectively swapping diplomatic capital for the removal of high-profile names from the EU blacklist. While France framed the request as a matter of national security it declined to provide further specifics, leaving the exact mechanics of the deal largely opaque.
Reactions from Kyiv and the wider EU
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced strong opposition, thanking Latvia for its initial resistance and urging the bloc to keep both Usmanov and Fridman on the blacklist until Moscow engaged in genuine peace talks. A Ukrainian sanctions adviser warned that the move could erode the solidarity that Brussels has projected since the invasion began.
Nevertheless, diplomats described the compromise as a pragmatic step to preserve the One envoy summed it up: “No one is happy about this, but the consensus was that it is better to maintain the rest of the listings and avoid a repeat of this circus.” The extended 36-month horizon, coupled with the removal of two billionaires, aims to balance political concessions with the need for a robust, long-term pressure tool.
Implications for future EU-Russia negotiations
The episode underscores the fragility of the EU’s unified front on Russia. It reveals how national interests—France’s demand for prisoner releases and Luxembourg’s legal exposure—can reshape collective policy. As the sanctions list remains extensive, other sanctioned parties may be emboldened to seek legal challenges, especially now that the evidence packs used for prior listings have been questioned in courts across the union.
For Azerbaijan, the pardon serves as a diplomatic win, showcasing its ability to leverage a geopolitical crisis for domestic advantage. The episode also highlights the ongoing tension between Western security concerns and the strategic calculus of smaller states situated between Europe and Russia.
