Ukraine says lifting sanctions on Russian tycoons 'shameful'

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky after talks U.S. President Donald Trump at U.N. Headquarters on September 22, 2026 in New York City. [AFP]

Ukraine on Tuesday slammed the EU's removal of two oligarchs from its Russian sanctions list as "shameful and unjustifiable", with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying the move was a "concession" to the Kremlin and "counterproductive".

EU countries earlier agreed a compromise deal to prolong sanctions on Russia that will also see the two Russian oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, removed from the blacklist.

Zelensky met EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in New York on Tuesday.

"At a time when Russia is carrying out brutal attacks on our people –- and even now, during the UN General Assembly, air raid alerts are ongoing in many regions because of drones and ballistic missiles –- signals about lifting sanctions on individual Russian oligarchs are self-defeating and counterproductive," Zelensky said on social media.

"Wars end through resolve and strength, not concessions to the aggressor’s entourage," he added.

But he said he was "grateful" to von der Leyen for "her readiness to work on adding more Russian names to the EU sanctions list".

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said: "Moscow is celebrating because it got what it wanted: a sense of impunity, the humiliation of the EU, and division among Europeans."

Sybiga urged EU countries to impose "their own national sanctions on these two individuals".