June 17, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Germany is co-financing three projects for production drones in Ukraine worth EUR 400 million.

In Estonia, Ukrainian instructors have started teaching military drone courses for volunteers.

Austria offers Vienna as a venue for peace talks between Ukraine and the rf.

Nico Lange, a Senior Fellow at the Munich Security Conference, believes that russia may eventually take the negotiation track with Ukraine seriously.

US Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal has supported his colleague Lindsey Graham and called on President Donald Trump to urge the Senate to vote approval of the russian sanctions bill.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said that more pressure should be put on russia to ensure a ceasefire in Ukraine and has called on the G7 countries to toughen sanctions to achieve this goal.

“Today we are sending a very clear signal to russia. We will no longer allow you to weaponize energy against us, we will no longer allow you to blackmail our member states, and we will no longer indirectly help finance putin’s war. We intend to halt energy supplies from russia to the EU — mainly gas,” said European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen.

The EU Energy Council is discussing a gradual phase-out of imports of russian energy carriers, which member states continue to buy.

The European Commission has proposed to include additional measures against the rb and sanctions on software used by russian banks into the draft 18th package of sanctions against the rf.

“I do not believe that russia, which is now engaged in a high-intensity conflict and has decided not to respect the UN Charter for several years now, can be a mediator,” President of France Emmanuel Macron said about putin’s possible mediation efforts in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Minister of Transport of Lithuania Eugenijus Sabutis has said that GPS signal interference, which has recently affected aircraft and maritime navigation near Lithuania’s seaport of Klaipėda, is unlikely to stop even after the war in Ukraine ends, that is why the countries of the region should take measures to avoid these problems.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Baiba Braže has decided to include two russian citizens – channel one propaganda TV presenter yekaterina andreeva and actor pavel priluchnyi, who supported russia’s invasion of Ukraine – in the list of undesirable persons and impose an indefinite ban on their entry into the country.

Exports of russian wheat in the 2024/2025 season, which ends on June 30, may decline by 20-25 %.

russia is experiencing double-digit food inflation: average food prices in the first four months of 2025 were by 12 % higher than last year. Moreover, the record figures were shown by vegetables. In May, potatoes went up by 173 % year-on-year. Its average retail price reached 84.7 rubles a kilogram. The average retail price of onions increased by 87.2 % year-on-year to 72.3 rubles for 1 kg, while white cabbage became more expensive by 56.8 % and is now sold at 75.2 rubles a kilo. Beets added 11.9 % to the price, tomatoes – 1.2 %.

russians began to buy less potatoes, the price of which by the end of May rose to its highest level in 23 years. In the first quarter of 2025, russians bought by 8 % less potatoes than in the same period last year. In order to save money, consumers switched to bread, pasta and cereals, which grew by 6 %, 5 % and 3 %, respectively.

By the end of the year, the federal budget of the rf may lose 24 % of oil and gas revenues compared to the original plan.

The ministry of construction of the rf intends to double the fee for water consumption for russians who do not use meters. The measures have been announced ahead of a significant increase in tariffs for housing and communal services, which will rise by an average of 11.9% starting July 1. Thus, the agency intends to fight those who would  be able to save money by paying according to the standard. For them, the multiplier used in the calculations will be increased from the current 1.5 to 3.

Rostov’s “azimut” airline’s airplane (RA-89120), flying flight A4-7053 from vnukovo to Batumi (Georgia), began to fall apart in midair, losing the right engine nacelle flaps. This is not the first time this has happened to “azimut”. In addition, in 2024, russian airlines decommissioned 58 aircrafts. So, in the face of sanctions and a lack of aircrafts, such incidents are becoming more frequent.

governor of Belgorod region vyacheslav gladkov has called to mothball the damaged by shelling cars and houses of those residents of the region who left the country during the war with Ukraine. “If people have left the country, why should we spend money on them, while people stay here and work in an extremely difficult situation,” gladkov said.

Amid a potato shortage in belarus, lukashenko has recommended that citizens cut down on their consumption of this product. “Once a week, twice a week at most, and then baked, mashed,” he said. Speaking about the reasons for the shortage, lukashenko blamed the situation on belarusian farmers, who, according to him, preferred to sell potatoes to russia, where they cost two to three times more.

belarus’ share of global potash trade decreased from 9 % in 2021 to 6 % in 2024. In absolute terms, sales decreased from 5.1 million to 4 million tons.

Annual inflation in belarus was 7.1 % in May after 6.5 % in April. Inflation accelerated most markedly for food products (9.5 % in May after 8.3 % in April). The key factor was a significant increase in prices for seasonal fruits and vegetables (by 14.4 % in May after 6.8 % in April). Prices for services grew by 7.2 % in May, up from 7 % in April, and prices for non-food products grew by 3.6 %, the same as in April. Also, core annual inflation was 7.1 % in May after 6.6 % in April.

In belarus, the decline in wholesale sales has accelerated. In the first five months of this year, wholesale trade decreased by 4.7 % compared to the same period in 2024. And the situation is getting worse: in January-April, the decline was 3.4 %.