May 14, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius has confirmed that part of the EUR 800 billion ReArm Europe plan will be used to provide military support to Ukraine.

Ukraine and the European Union have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the defense industry.

Taiwan will provide $2 million to international mine action fund for Ukraine.

“Ukraine strives for peace. We, the Nordic and Baltic countries, want peace. We reiterate our call for a full, unconditional, immediate ceasefire for 30 days with the possibility of its renewal. Only the aggressor, russia, has refused to accept this approach,” the NB8 countries (Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia) have assured of their support for Ukraine on its path to peace and an end to russia's aggressive war. The day before, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the EU High Representative (Weimar+ format) emphasized in a joint statement that russia has not demonstrated any serious intention to make progress on the path to peace and must do so without delay. If the ceasefire is not respected, the European Union, together with the United States and other partners, will be forced to impose additional sanctions against russia.

European Commission Spokesperson Paula Pinho has said: “The EU expects putin to be ready to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 15, the EU is also ready to impose additional sanctions against russia in the absence of a ceasefire.

“It should be clear that Ukraine has a strong European axis behind it. We expect that putin will be ready for a ceasefire and then for negotiations. Ukraine is ready for this without conditions. And if the aggressor is not ready for this... we must clearly say that he (putin) is not interested in peace,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul.

North Macedonia has the international initiative to establish a special tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

The US  Department of Agriculture predicts an increase in Ukrainian grain exports this year compared to the previous year, namely wheat – to 16.5 million tons from 16 million tons,  and corn – to 24 million tons from 22 million tons.

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Europe is preparing to transfer a “significant part” of sanctions against russia to a “different legal basis” to circumvent Budapest’s possible veto of the extension of restrictions.

The European Union has no intention of resuming imports of russian energy carriers even if a peace agreement between Ukraine and russia is reached, EU Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen said. “The position of the European Union is clear: we do not want russian energy carriers, neither now, nor in the future, and even after peace is achieved,” Jorgensen said. He emphasized that the EU will not allow russia to turn energy carriers into a weapon and use them  as a blackmail tool.

The European Union is ready to impose tougher sanctions against russia if no progress is made this week in settling the Ukrainian conflict, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday, adding that a new round of sanctions has already been prepared.

“We must completely cut off the russian banking system... We must isolate it. And the second issue is to implement the sanctions that have already been imposed... I think we should expand the sanctions even further. So, this means additional packages: 18th, 19th, if necessary,” said Minister of Finance of Lithuania Rimantas Šadžius.

Sanctions against russia need to be strengthened, as there has been no change in its actions. It is necessary to adopt the 17th package of sanctions, and then to develop and adopt the 18th  package,” said Minister of Finance of Sweden Elisabeth Svantesson at a meeting initiated by Sweden and Poland to present the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics’ report on the state of the russian economy. “We need to be tougher with russia, we haven’t even seen any negotiations yet, and if we retreat now, only russia will benefit. Now it is trying to hide information about the real state of its affairs to convince everyone that sanctions are ineffective. In reality, the situation is different. The sanctions are working, but we need to do more to ensure that we support the new package,” said Svantesson.

The EU is preparing to add russia and the rb to the “black list” of countries with a high risk of deforestation. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) categorizes countries as high, standard or low risk. The category determines how strict the due diligence rules will be for companies importing important agricultural commodities such as cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, and beef, which means more inspections.

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN specialized agency responsible for the safety and sustainable development of global aviation, has found russia responsible for the downing of passenger flight MH17 over the Donbas in 2014.

“It’s a shame that the leader of a country that is a member of NATO and the European Union decided to go to the capital of a state that commits war crimes against Ukraine, wages aggression against its neighbors, and went there to celebrate something,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania  Kęstutis Budrys criticized Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico for participating in the May 9 parade in moscow.

Russia’s positive foreign trade balance in January-March 2025 decreased by 17.8 % compared to 2024.

Exports of goods from russia in January-March amounted to $94.9 billion. This is by 6.8  % less than a year earlier. At the same time, imports remained almost unchanged at $63.1 billion (+0.1 %), as the trade balance shrank by 17.8 % compared to January–March 2024 and amounted to $31.8 billion.

In April 2025, export shipments of diesel fuel from the rf  decreased by about 10 % in daily terms compared to the previous month to about 3.3 million tons.

According to the institute for international economic relations of the rf,  in 2025, russia may face a shortage of sugar and potatoes due to climatic anomalies. Frosts damaged 12 % of sugar beet crops, which has led to forecasts of a 15-20 % rise in sugar prices, as in 2024. Potatoes, which suffered from temperature extremes, are also at risk of becoming scarce: the previous harvest in the Southern Federal District was down by 30 %, which caused  higher prices and imports from abroad. This year’s recurrence of unfavorable conditions has exacerbated the situation. The shortage of sugar beet has reduced the production of its derivatives, such as molasses, livestock feed and bioethanol used in the fuel industry. This poses risks for the confectionery industry, animal farming, and the energy sector. In recent years, up to 40 % of corn crops in the Krasnodar Krai have died, which affected the livestock feed base and the price of meat.

This year, the federal treasury of the rf will lose more than 448 billion rubles, or almost a fifth of the planned revenue from the car recycling fee.

The number of taxi drivers in russia may decrease by 51 %, or 507 thousand people, if the state duma passes a draft law  that requires the use of only domestically produced cars for transportation. According to the estimates, up to 89.5 % of part-time drivers with their own cars and 35.6 % of those who work in rented cars full-time may leave the taxi business.

russian companies need 2.6 million employees. This deficit was recorded at the end of 2024. The figure grew by 17 % and became a record. In fact, for every employee, there was one needed. The largest  shortage of staff  is observed in the manufacturing industry – 391 thousand people, in trade – 347 thousand, in transport – 219 thousand. Here, employers  are ready to pay applicants more than 100 thousand rubles – 1.5 times higher than the average in russia.

russian veterinary pharmacies and clinics are facing a shortage of rabies vaccines. The shortage is especially  acute in moscow and st. petersburg. The problem is related to sanctions for the war in Ukraine, which have limited the supply of foreign medications, as well as russian manufacturers’ inability  to produce the required volumes of vaccines.

The European Court of Justice has confirmed the legality of the decision of the EU’s general court in September 2023 on the validity of the EU Council’s sanctions against russian businessman mikhail gutseriev for benefiting from the belarusian regime, and his appeal was rejected.

Chief National Security Advisor to the President of Lithuania, Deividas Matulionis, supports the unification of restrictions on russian and belarusian citizens.

Lithuanian industrial group SBA has completely left the belarusian market. SBA representatives have stated that Belarus imposed strict restrictions on the sale of assets of Western companies, which greatly complicated the transaction and discouraged many potential buyers, and therefore delayed the exit process.

The negative balance of foreign trade in consumer goods increased 7.5 times in roubles over the year.

In April 2025, core inflation (excluding seasonal goods, as well as goods and services that often change in price in the short term or are regulated by the state) amounted to 6.6 % in annual terms. In March, the figure was 6.1 %, and in February it was 5.8 %.

Cabbage became the leader in price growth in belarus. Its price increased by 24.2 %. It was followed by potatoes, which rose by 21.9 %. The top list also includes carrots (8.7 %), beet roots (8.4 %) and cucumbers (7.7 %).

Despite the staff shortage, employees of the belarusian company “grodno-azot” are again being tested with a polygraph, but this practice worsens the situation with the shortage of personnel. Polygraphs are taken both for employment and for contract renewal. The polygraph is primarily used for so-called “unreliable” employees when it comes to contract renewal. Those who are considered suspicious due to any actions or statements at work are also summoned. Disloyal employees continue to be fired.

In Mozyr, Mogilev, Solegorsk and other cities of the rb, the situation with specialized doctors is critical. Citizens have to queue up at dawn to see a doctor or even make an appointment.