Azerbaijan frees French prisoner Martin Ryan as EU eases sanctions on Russian oligarchs

French national Martin Ryan was pardoned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday. The pardon came a day after the EU lifted sanctions on Russian billionaires, following pressure from Baku, according to diplomats.

President Aliyev pardoned a total of 20 people, citing their personalities, health conditions, family circumstances, and other factors, his website said.

Ryan had been serving a ten‑year prison sentence in Baku after being convicted in March.

A senior diplomat in Brussels told AFP that France had urged the EU to lift sanctions on a Russian billionaire in exchange for the release of French prisoners.

Three European diplomats told Reuters that Paris privately indicated Baku was using Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov as leverage over the case of two French citizens detained in Azerbaijan—an allegation rejected by Baku.

The EU agreed on Tuesday to extend sanctions on Russia, but removed Usmanov and another Russian billionaire, Mikhail Fridman, from the blacklist, diplomats said.

Ukraine criticized the decision, arguing that the EU should increase pressure on Moscow rather than lift asset freezes and visa bans on the two billionaires.

“Moscow is celebrating because it got what it wanted: a sense of impunity, the humiliation of the EU, and division among Europeans,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on social media. “But there is still a way to spoil the celebrations in Moscow. I urge all EU member states to announce now that they will impose their own national sanctions on these two individuals.”

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

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