A senior Azerbaijani diplomat rejected allegations that Baku pressured France to lobby for Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s removal from the European Union’s sanctions list, calling the claims categorically unfounded. Azerbaijan acknowledged supporting Usmanov’s removal from Western sanctions lists but denied interfering in U.S. or EU sanction processes. The diplomat said Baku and other members of the Organisation of Turkic States wrote several times to U.S. and European leaders between November 2023 and March 2025, describing Usmanov as a philanthropist and public figure who helped build ties between the West, Central Asia and the wider Turkic world. Reuters had reported that France was privately urging EU partners to lift sanctions on Usmanov, with diplomats linking the effort to Azerbaijan and two French citizens detained there. France’s foreign ministry declined to detail Azerbaijan’s role, citing national security. One French national has been sentenced in Azerbaijan on espionage charges, while Paris has said the other is being held arbitrarily.