PARIS: Two Russian dissidents said in the French parliament on Wednesday that an EU move to lift sanctions on oligarch Alisher Usmanov was a mistake that showed Europe could be pressured by the Kremlin.

Last month France drew ire from a number of EU nations, Ukraine and the Russian opposition by getting sanctions lifted on Usmanov and another Kremlin-friendly tycoon, Mikhail Fridman.

Speaking in the French parliament, exiled Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin singled out Usmanov, calling the decision to remove the Russian-Uzbek billionaire from the blacklist a “mistake.”

He said that the Russian opposition understood the move was driven by France’s national interests. But the development “has nevertheless caused great disappointment and demoralization among supporters of democracy in Russia,” he said.

“We believe it demonstrated Europe’s weakness. It sent a signal that Europe can be pressured into easing sanctions.”

Usmanov, 73, and Fridman, 62, were added to the European Union sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 over allegations that their businesses provided significant revenues to the Kremlin.

Usmanov’s case was linked to the release of Martin Ryan, a Frenchman jailed in Azerbaijan on espionage charges.

In a sign of the importance of the case for France, the head of the DGSE foreign intelligence agency, Nicolas Lerner, accompanied Ryan on his trip home, an informed source has told AFP.

“There are times when difficult decisions have to be made,” Yashin said. “But in such situations, it is necessary to at least raise the cost,” he added.

“What is profoundly disappointing is that Usmanov’s removal from the sanctions list did not lead to the release of a single Russian political prisoner,” Yashin said, claiming that a possible release of Russian political prisoners was not discussed.

“That is deeply disappointing, despite all due respect for France.”

Another Kremlin critic, Vladimir Milov, said Usmanov was “capable of causing enormous harm to the national security of France if he remains exempt from sanctions.”

“I do not think everyone in France fully realizes this fact,” said Milov, a former Russian deputy energy minister.

With other Kremlin critics, Yashin and Milov spoke at an event aimed at building bridges between French lawmakers and members of Russia’s exiled opposition.