EU renews Russia sanctions but removes two oligarchs, drawing Kyiv's ire

In a moment that reveals the quiet erosion of collective resolve, the European Union extended its sanctions against Russia while quietly removing two of its wealthiest oligarchs — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — from the blacklist. The decision, taken while the war in Ukraine grinds on, has exposed a fault line within the bloc between those who see sanctions as a principled commitment and those who treat them as a negotiable instrument. History tends to remember not only the pressures nations apply, but the moments they choose to ease them.