Overview

• The Council of the European Union extended targeted visa bans and asset freezes for six months, setting a new expiry of 15 March 2026.
• The rollover preserves 2,529 listings (1,894 individuals and 635 entities) with no political delistings this cycle and a full review planned before the next deadline.
• Extensions occur every six months under unanimity rules, and failure to agree would allow the individual sanctions regime to lapse.
• Hungary and Slovakia sought the delisting of several businessmen, including Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, according to EU diplomats, but the proposal did not advance.
• Diplomats cited a Russian drone incursion into Poland, ECJ rejections of appeals by Viktor Yanukovych and Roman Abramovich, and informal U.S. pressure as factors in the talks, while Latvia approved a national sanctions framework and Estonia highlighted a December decision on the €200 billion central‑bank asset freeze.