Lithuania froze the assets of Fridman and Usmanov, from whom the EU lifted sanctions

Lithuania has frozen the assets of Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov, who were previously removed from the European Union’s sanctions list. The country has decided to apply its own sanctions against them.

This was announced by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budris on the social network X.

According to the minister, the EU’s decision to lift sanctions on Fridman and Usmanov was the wrong signal, so Lithuania decided to act independently.

“Lithuania is taking action and will not turn a blind eye to this. Today we have frozen the assets of Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov within the framework of our national sanctions regime,” Budris said.

He also emphasized that sanctions pressure on Russia and the people who help it wage war must not only be maintained, but also strengthened.

It was previously reported that the UK will not lift sanctions on Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman , even though the European Union has decided to remove them from the sanctions list. Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in New York.

As a reminder, ambassadors from all 27 EU countries have agreed to lift sanctions on Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman . However, there is no final decision yet – it can still be blocked by any EU country.