Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sactions in Action

“In the coming weeks, we will give Ukraine the opportunity to defend itself for at least three years thanks to a loan that the European Commission will provide to Ukraine and which will be repaid later with reparations that russia will pay to Ukraine,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noël Barrot. The Minister also believes that putin’s visit to Budapest to meet with US President Donald Trump will only make sense if it “leads to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire”.

“One is President Trump’s diplomatic efforts toward a ceasefire and peace. On the other hand, we must adhere to the principles of Europe that we all agreed on. The only place for putin in Europe is The Hague, before a tribunal, not in any of our capitals,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys said that in the context of resolving the war in Ukraine, he considers it necessary to combine these two things.

“None of us should put pressure on Zelenskyy when it comes to territorial concessions. We should all put pressure on russia to stop its aggression. Appeasement never was a road to a just and lasting peace,” said Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk.

“It is quite obvious that putin does not want peace, he wants power. Of course, Zelenskyy doesn’t need the West’s help to surrender, but on the very contrary, Zelenskyy needs help from all of us, to protect freedom and the free choice of people,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas predicts that the 19th package of EU sanctions against russia will be approved on October 23. At the same time, Kallas has said she is discussing with partner countries how to “better coordinate our actions regarding the rf’s shadow fleet”. She has also commented on a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and putin: “Regarding Budapest, no, it’s not nice... to see that really a person put to the arrest warrant by the ICC is coming to a European country. And again, the question is whether there is any outcome from this”.

“Some sectors are still not covered by the 19th sanctions package. These include energy, finance, and tariffs on russian and belarusian goods. That’s why we need to start working on these issues as part of the 20th sanctions package,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys about the new package of anti-russian sanctions.

Spain has provided Ukraine with 70 electric generators as part of its energy assistance.

US President Donald Trump has reiterated that India will stop buying russian oil, while warning that New Delhi will continue paying “massive” tariffs if it does not do so.

The EU Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the RePowerEU mechanism, which provides for the European Union’s complete rejection of russian fossil fuels. The proposal provides for a legally binding ban on all gas imports from russia, including LNG, after January 1, 2028. The first stage of the ban will take effect on January 1, 2026, with exceptions for existing contracts concluded before June 17 of this year: short-term contracts will be valid until June 17, 2026, and long-term contracts until January 1, 2028.

Europe must be prepared for a possible war with russia, both morally and technically, said Minister of Defence of Sweden Pål Jonson. In this regard, he called on European allies to increase military supplies to Ukraine and strengthen sanctions against the rf.

Minister of the Interior of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov has said that russian spies are advising migrants on how to avoid deportation from the UK and other European countries. The head of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry has stressed that putin’s regime and ultra-left groups are cooperating with human traffickers to “flood Europe with migrants”.

China’s purchases of russian oil in January-September decreased by 8.1 % compared to the same period last year.

Volumes of China’s trade with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan in 2024 more than twice exceeded the trade turnover of these countries with russia. In 2000, russia’s trade with Central Asian countries exceeded China’s trade with this region more than five times. russia’s trade turnover with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan in 2000 amounted to $9 billion, while China’s was $1.7 billion. In 2010, russia’s trade with Central Asia was one and a half times higher than its trade with China – $15 billion versus $10 billion.

“Severstal”, one of russia’s largest metallurgical companies, accounting for 14 % of the country’s total steel production, continues to record a decline in financial performance. In the third quarter, “Severstal”, owned by billionaire Aleksey Mordashov, earned three times less profit than a year earlier – 12.99 billion rubles. And in the first nine months of the year, it faced a 57 % decline in profit, to 49.74 billion rubles. “Severstal”’s revenue decreased by 18 % within the quarter and by 14 % in nine months, while EBITDA declined by 45 % and 40 %, respectively. The company’s free cash flow, i.e., the difference between inflows and outflows, became negative: minus 21.24 billion rubles for January–September. “Severstal” has been losing money at an average rate of 2.3 billion rubles per month. The company’s cash cushion has almost halved since the beginning of the year: from 128.5 billion rubles in accounts to 72.2 billion.

russian banks are urgently raising deposit rates in an attempt to attract money from the population amid the liquidity crisis and accelerating inflation. VTB was one of the first to raise rates, increasing the yield on a wide range of deposits by 1.5 % at once. “Yandex Bank” and “moscow Credit Bank” followed suit. This move reflects the financial institutions’ desperate attempts to attract funds from the population to compensate for the lack of working capital.

russia’s imports of smartphones from China in September almost halved in annual terms. In September, 1.3 million smartphones worth $173.5 million were imported from China to the rf. This is 1.9 times fewer than the 2.5 million devices that were imported to russia in September last year. In total, moscow purchased 11.3 million smartphones from Beijing in the first three quarters of this year, which is by one-third fewer than in the same period a year earlier.

Sales of portable speakers in russia in the summer of 2025 decreased by 8 % in terms of units and by 7 % in terms of money.

Since the beginning of 2025, employers have sent 2.5 million job offers to russians over 55 years of age, which is by 75 % more than a year earlier.

In 2025, 12,500 russians living abroad applied to participate in the program of voluntary resettlement to russia. This is almost three times fewer than last year, when there were 36,400 applicants. From January to June, 11,600 people moved to russia under this program, the lowest figure in the last 11 years.

russian courts have sentenced at least 158 teenagers in cases of terrorism and sabotage since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. In particular, minors aged 14 to 17 were tried under articles on “terrorist acts” “aiding terrorism”, “participation in the activities of a terrorist organization”, and “calls for terrorism”. In 2022, 26 teenagers were sentenced to different terms, in 2023 – 35, and in 2024 – 41. In the first half of 2025, 29 teenagers were convicted under terrorism articles.

russia is going to reduce the age of criminal responsibility for sabotage to 14 years and abolish the statute of limitations in such cases. The maximum term for sabotage is 20 years in prison.

Since the beginning of 2025, parking spaces in moscow have risen in price by an average of 18 % – to 240,000 rubles for a square meter. The most expensive parking space in the capital city of russia is currently selling for almost 37 million rubles, and the cheapest – for 1.1 million rubles.

The occupying authorities in Crimea plan to increase the limit on fuel sales to a single buyer – the norm will increase from 20 to 30 liters.

China keeps reducing imports of potash fertilizers from belarus. In September, imports of potassium chloride to China increased by 24 % in value terms to $265.06 million, but not due to supplies from belarus. Imports of belarusian potassium in value terms decreased by 64.9 % to $30 million in September.

The deficit of the rb’s budget for 2026 is estimated at 4.3-4.6 billion rubles.

Minister of finance of belarus Yuri Seliverstov has called pessimistic the pace of work with russian credit resources on import-substituting cooperation projects.

belarusian officials have disclosed the country’s birth rate. Director of the Center for Human Development and Demography at the Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences Anastasia Bobrova has said that the total fertility rate for the country is 1.1, while in minsk it is only 0.6. This is lower than in countries with a similar level of urbanization: for example, in the UK it is 1.4. It is a paradox: young people are actively moving to the capital of the rb, housing is being built, but this is not leading to an increase in the birth rate. A rate of 1.1 means that belarus belongs to the group of countries with the lowest birth rates in the world.