A court in Fiji has paused the attempted U.S. seizure of a Russian oligarch-owned vessel it approved last week.

The seizure was suspended after a request was filed to the Fiji Court of Appeals by Millemarin Investment, the company that maintains the Amadea. The suspension is the latest development in the effort by Western countries to sanction Russian oligarchs for their involvement in the war in Ukraine.

The yacht will remain in Fiji police custody and cannot leave Fiji waters despite the pause, according to a Monday announcement. The case is scheduled to return to court on Thursday, and the U.S. warrant is still registered with Fiji's courts, a spokeswoman said.

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U.S. authorities allege the ship is actually owned by Suleyman Kerimov, owner of Russia's biggest gold producer, Polyus. Millemarin claims this is incorrect and that the vessel is actually owned by Eduard Khudainatov.

The Amadea arrived in Fiji on April 12 after departing Mexico in an attempt to evade the sanctions placed on Kerimov by the U.S. and its allies in the United Kingdom and the European Union. A week after its arrival, the Fiji High Court barred the vessel from leaving its waters "until the finalization of an application to register a warrant to seize the property."

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If seized, the vessel will be the second acquired by the U.S. under its sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian yachts have been a target of sanctions since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. German officials seized the world's largest yacht, owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, on April 16.