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

“I saw some things that surprised me, and I don’t like to be surprised, so I’m very disappointed,” US President Donald Trump commented on the rf’s recent air strikes on Ukraine.

US Navy Rear Admiral Michael Hewitt believes that the United States should respond to russian shelling of Ukraine’s energy facilities. “And when we get to peace, I would like to see economic interdependence between America and Ukraine, because that’s how America’s commitment is maintained. It’s not about fighting putin, it’s about the economic value of our two countries,” Hewitt summarized.

Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine Natalka Cmoc has said that her country’s Navy is ready to help Ukraine with the demining of the Black Sea.

“Ukraine as a sovereign state has the right to defend itself against aggression. Other UN member states have the right to provide Ukraine with the means to do so,” said Counselor at the US Permanent Mission to the UN Anton Yongenale.

“Baltic countries will never recognize the annexation of Crimea, even if the Americans ask us to do so. We were under occupation for 50 years, and the West never recognized the occupation of the Baltics,” said MP of Lithuania Emanuelis Zingeris.

“If the US and Europe are unable to put an end to the war in Ukraine in a short time, the credibility of both the US and Europeans pretending to fix any crisis in this region will be very low,” warned President of France Emmanuel Macron.

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As early as next week, the upper house of the US Congress may begin consideration of a bill to impose new sanctions on russia and its economic partners that continue to buy russian oil.

“North Korea in Ukraine is a big issue for all of us. If China does not want NATO to be involved in Southeast Asia, it must prevent intervention on European soil,” President of France Emmanuel Macron emphasized.

“When China and russia talk about making changes together that have not been seen in a hundred years and about revising the global security order, we should all be extremely concerned,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

On June 2, the United Kingdom will present its Strategic Defense Review. The 130-page document will warn of the “immediate and pressing” danger from russia and is expected to draw heavily on “lessons learnt from the war in Ukraine.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul believes that his country is no longer at unequivocal peace with russia in view of russian hybrid attacks. He believes that in view of the acts of sabotage and cyberattacks behind which russia is standing, it is necessary to consider  possible measures in response.

Sweden is toughening control over the rf’s Baltic “shadow fleet”. According to the Swedish Government, the new rules provide for mandatory provision of information on insurance coverage of ships. Not only vessels entering Swedish ports, but also those passing through Swedish territorial waters or its exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from the coast, are subject to inspection. Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson has said that the information obtained during the inspections will be shared with allies and used to strengthen sanctions control, including by entering data into international databases.

The rapid expansion of cooperation between russia and the dprk has led to gross violations of UN Security Council resolutions, as reported by the International Sanctions Monitoring Group. In total, russia has violated five resolutions of the UN Security Council, where it holds a permanent seat. In 2024 alone, the parties took a number of actions explicitly prohibited by the UN Security Council: they exchanged weapons, russia trained the north korean military,  supplied oil to the dprk in volumes exceeding the limit set by the UN Security Council, and conducted financial transactions with north korea.

russia has not yet transferred in full the necessary funding to pay pensions and benefits to pensioners living in Latvia. This was reported by Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Diana Eglite. Of the required amount of EUR 3.5 million, the russian side has transferred only a small part – EUR 21,369. These funds are intended to pay pensions to nine people, while the total number of pensioners is about 9,000.

President of the Republic Kasym-Jomart Tokayev has said that Kazakhstan has no plans to join the BRICS.

Basic food and consumer goods in the rf continue to rise rapidly in price. “Inflation for the poor”,  calculated by the consumption basket of the poorest citizens, exceeded 20 % in April 2025.

The average price of russian oil, which is calculated for tax purposes, amounted to 4,195 rubles a barrel in May, the lowest since April 2023 and by 38 % lower than the level used in planning budget revenues for 2025.

russia’s largest oil company, “rosneft”, cut its shareholders’ net profit  by more than half in the first quarter year-on-year.

Teachers of schools and colleges,  leacturers of universities in the rf are being offered 1,500 rubles for conducting an abortion prevention lesson.

Warehouse stocks of finished goods in belarus have broken a ten-year record. The problem is exacerbated by rising production volumes and declining demand in the main sales market. According to data for January-April, the warehouse stocks of belarusian enterprises amounted to 79.8 % of the average output for the month. This is the largest volume of accumulated and unsold products since 2016.

In April, the number of people registered with employment centers increased. At the same time, the number of vacancies continues to grow. As of May 31, a total of 209,284 workers were needed across the country.