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

US President Donald Trump has assured that he will continue to help Ukraine.

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni has emphasized that the United States “has not stopped supplying weapons and supporting Ukraine”, but has only “reconsidered its decision to supply certain components, in particular air defense”. “And this is undoubtedly an important fact, which is significantly different from a complete US withdrawal,” she said.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has expressed hope that the United States will show “flexibility” in supplying weapons to Ukraine so that Kyiv would have the necessary resources to defend itself.

Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul has urged the US administration to quickly resume arms supplies to Ukraine.

Ukraine has signed an agreement that defines specific steps to assist Ukrainian defense companies in setting up new production facilities in Denmark.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen has called for increased investment in Ukraine’s defense sector in response to the latest russian shelling. “The most obvious starting point is to increase investment in Ukraine. They would probably be able to produce twice as much military equipment as they do now if they had the funds,” the Minister said.

At the meeting of the Steering Committee of the International Drone Coalition in Riga, the desire of Belgium and Türkiye to join the international Drone Coalition, led by Latvia and the United Kingdom, was supported.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Beate Meinl-Reisinger has emphasized that russia has increased the intensity of its strikes on Ukraine since Ukraine “expressed its readiness for genuine peace talks and a ceasefire.” The diplomat has called to increase pressure on russia to stop its attacks on Ukrainian cities and force it to make a real peace.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul has advised those who believe in russia’s willingness to negotiate peace to look at the consequences of the latest shelling of Ukraine on the night of July 4.

The newly elected President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Pere Juan Ponce Sampietro  has condemned the rf’s attack on Kyiv and called on putin to stop the war against Ukraine. He has also emphasized that “we need a European Ukraine more than ever”.

The National Agency of Ukraine for Finding, Tracing, and Management of Assets (ARMA) will cooperate with Czech specialists in “identifying and returning russian assets located in the Czech Republic.”

In a joint Declaration following the first EU-Moldova Summit, the parties condemned “russia’s aggression against Ukraine” and russian hybrid attacks.

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Authorities of Sweden have initiated an investigation into the possibility that a russian orthodox church temple near the important airfield in Västerås could be used as a platform for espionage.

Small businesses in russia are facing much greater difficulties than large companies due to the high key rate and related non-payments.

VTB’s top management has urged russians to prepare for a fall in the ruble in the coming months. They have forecasted that by the end of 2025, russians will give 90 rubles for 1 dollar, not 79.

In russia, sales of new Chinese passenger cars have declined by 30 % year-on-year.

Over the past month, not a single new construction project has been launched in St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Volgograd, Ufa, and Perm. In the first six months of the year, only 17.8 million square meters of housing were started in russia, which is the lowest figure for the same periods of the last three years. The largest decline among the regions with a large volume of construction was recorded: in Moscow – by 38 % (to 1.8 million square meters), in Sverdlovsk region – by 32 % (to 1 million square meters), in the Krasnodar Krai – by 31 % (to 0.81 million square meters), in Tyumen region – by 26 % (to 0.64 million square meters).

Between January and March 2025, the arrears of russian companies on insurance premiums – that is, contributions to pension and medical care for employees – increased by 22 % to 352 billion rubles.

Rostov region is facing huge problems with its harvest due to the drought. Last year, instead of the 16 million tons of grain expected, Rostov farmers harvested 11 million tons after the region was hit by several waves of return frosts and then faced a shortage of rainfall. This year, the situation has worsened. The grain harvest may decrease by another 20 %, to the lowest level in the last decade.

Over the past year, the number of wedding salons in russia has decreased by 12 %  due to the decrease in the number of marriages.

The report on russia’s  socio-economic situation  for May published this week did not contain the usual information on natural population growth, the number of births and deaths, marriages and divorces, migration, or even the size of population.

russians have been stopped from obtaining Kyrgyz citizenship – no  schemes, including the popular birth or ancestral one, are working anymore.

The prosecutor general’s office and the ministry of justice of the rf demand that the “International Movement of Satanism” be recognized as extremist and banned, although there are no official organizations with this name.

A new rule has been introduced to the education code of the rb: schools in urban-type settlements, villages, as well as specialized lyceums, “suvorov” and cadet schools, must now train students to become drivers of motor vehicles and self-propelled machines in order to encourage them to join the army.

Teachers in the regions of the rb have been instructed to subscribe to regional socio-political publications, otherwise they will be deprived of their bonuses.