In an interview with RFI, Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza has accused France of sending a “very dangerous” signal that the West is ready to return to “business as usual” with Vladimir Putin, after the French government pushed for European Union sanctions against Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov to be lifted – a move Kara-Murza called “shameful”.
The EU sanctioned Usmanov, a metals tycoon with close ties to Putin, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – and removed him from its list on 22 September this year, following a push from France.
