July 1, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Ukroboronprom and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace have agreed to cooperate in strengthening the potential of Ukrainian air defense. The partnership will involve the integration of existing and future domestic short- and medium-range air defense systems into the NASAMS infrastructure.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul has appealed to European partners with a proposal to find a way to transfer additional air defense systems to Ukraine.

“When putin talks about peace today, it is pure mockery and humiliation. His pretended willingness to negotiate is nothing more than a signboard. He wants to conquer the whole of Ukraine and at the same time spread fear throughout Europe,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Johann Wadephul.

“The war in Ukraine is the conflict which is closest to us, that binds Europe together in its capabilities, that poses the greatest threat to our own peaceful order. That is why the Chancellor has always emphasized that peace in Ukraine is our main goal,” said Spokesperson for Germany’s Federal Government Stefan Cornelius.

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The EU has officially extended sectoral sanctions against russia for six months.

The Social Democratic Party of Germany has opposed “the resumption of any natural gas supplies from russia through the northern gas pipelines” (“Nord Stream” and “Nord Stream-2”).

“I don’t have to explain to anyone today that during the war, where russia is the main negative actor, it would be a grave sin to expect the Polish energy sector to be based on supplies from russia,” Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk commented on the information that the Polish oil refinery company Orlen will not buy russian oil for its Czech refinery after June 30.

Poland’s Minister of State Assets Jakub Jaworowski has pointed out that his country will increase the production of ammunition for howitzers fivefold as it seeks to reduce its dependence on arms imports and defend itself against the russian threat in the East.

According to representatives of large taxi companies, next year, 20 % of taxi companies in russia may close, and by the end of 2026, another 10 % of carriers will leave the market. The companies will be forced to close due to the inability to renew their fleet of vehicles at the high rate of the Central Bank. Current leasing rates have made most of the cars unprofitable, and carriers cannot upgrade vehicles and are forced to extend the service life of cars to six years or more. Next year, old cars with mileages of more than 400 thousand kilometers will no longer be able to withstand the load in taxis, and a massive upgrade of equipment will be required. While Hyundai, Kia, Skoda, Volkswagen, and Toyota, which are popular with carriers, served for four to five years, their Chinese and russian counterparts have been in service for 1.5 years and need expensive transmission repairs before the end of the lease term.

The russian car industry is once again disliked by the russians themselves. Buyers of a new Lada Vesta sell it after a few weeks of use. Among the reasons – unstable electronics behavior, keyless entry works selectively, brake lights are unstable, and in some cases the car does not start at all. The reliability of the car remains a lottery – often the transmission has to be changed after 5 thousand kilometers. Against this background, russians are simply switching to Chinese car brands. It is therefore quite logical that the russian automotive industry is once again on the decline. In May, only 35,000 passenger cars were made by russian factories. This is almost by 20% fewer than in May last year and by 50 % fewer than in April.

Sliced white loaf may disappear from russian shops if the government imposes strict price regulation on socially important goods, the owners of the largest holdings have said. In March, Prime Minister of the rf Mishustin announced that “the toughest” measures would be taken to curb food inflation. Last year, wheat bread prices in russia rose by 14.6 % – 1.5 times faster than the overall inflation rate, which the authorities estimated at 9.5 %. In January-May of this year, bread prices rose by another 6.2 %, bringing the cumulative total since the beginning of the war to over 35 %. On average, the cost of production increased by 27 % in 2024. The rise in prices is also affected by a shortage of personnel, which reaches 40 % of the staffing level of some enterprises.

From July 1, the rf will suspend grain sales to the intervention fund.

Export prices for russian wheat decreased last week. The price of a ton of new crop russian wheat with a 12.5 % protein content for delivery on a free on board (FOB) basis in the second half of July decreased by $3 to $224 per ton FOB. Wheat for August delivery is estimated at $222 per ton FOB.

russian companies, facing a shortage of personnel amid the war and the demographic gap, have decided to cope with the shortage of specialists and workers with the help of pre-retirees. In January-May, employers sent job offers to 5.1 million applicants aged 50 and older, which is by 95 % more than in the same period last year.

The belarusian council of the republic has approved a draft law banning people convicted of “extremist crimes” from working with children.

The council of the republic has also approved fines of 5 to 12 basic units, and for a legal entity – from 20 to 200 basic units for “non-delivery (short delivery) by the supplier of fruit and vegetable products under the supply contract, the absence of such products in the sale of the procurer”– the so-called “potato fine”.

While food prices are constantly rising in the rb, large piles of edible vegetables were dumped in the field near Zhodyno: purple salad onions, beets, carrots and even corn. As it turned out, they were used to fertilize the soil. At this, rotten zucchinis are being sold to people in shops.

Due to the young people’s mass leaving for abroad to study in Western universities, in 2025, 30 belarusian universities will allocate about 1,000 state-funded places for russian applicants, calling it an exchange in education.