Key facts
- Azerbaijan has rejected allegations of pressuring France over sanctions on Alisher Usmanov.
- A senior Azerbaijani diplomat called the claims 'categorically unfounded'.
- Baku stated it has never interfered in U.S. or EU sanction processes.
- Reports suggested France linked the potential lifting of sanctions on Usmanov to Azerbaijan's detention of French nationals.
- Azerbaijan has supported Usmanov's removal from Western sanctions lists.
- France's foreign ministry declined to comment on Azerbaijan's role, citing national security.
Baku has vehemently denied reports that it pressured France to advocate for the removal of Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the European Union's sanctions list. A senior Azerbaijani diplomat dismissed the allegations as "categorically unfounded" in a statement to Reuters on Friday.
Reuters had previously reported that Paris had been urging EU partners to lift sanctions on Usmanov, with diplomats suggesting this was linked to Azerbaijan and the detention of French citizens in the South Caucasus nation. The Azerbaijani diplomat clarified that while Baku has openly supported Usmanov's removal from Western sanctions, it has never interfered in the sanction processes of the United States or the European Union. The diplomat suggested the reports were a tactic to justify the self-interests of certain countries using "deceptive manipulations" involving Azerbaijan.
Between November 2023 and March 2025, Azerbaijan, along with other members of the Organisation of Turkic States, reportedly wrote to U.S. and European leaders in support of Usmanov, describing him as a "renowned philanthropist and public figure" who fostered ties between the West, Central Asia, and the Turkic world. France's foreign ministry spokesperson, Pascal Confavreux, declined to comment directly on Azerbaijan's involvement, stating only that the matter pertained to national security.