Jean-Pierre Thomas, the former chairman of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s aluminum company Rusal, was ousted from his position this week after a Daily Beast report detailed his defense of Russia’s occupation of Crimea. The U.S. lifted sanctions on Rusal and two other Russian firms controlled by Deripaska this week, with the Treasury Department saying they had “reduced Oleg Deripaska’s direct and indirect shareholding stake in those companies and severed his control.” As a condition of lifting the sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department demanded that Thomas, who was on the job for less than a month, resign, the company said in a statement Sunday. As The Daily Beast reported, Thomas has pushed Kremlin propaganda and helped create a group that is pushing for Russia’s occupation of Crimea to be recognized as legal. Thomas previously advised former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.