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

“Trump is losing his patience. He is losing his willingness to continue to wait for the russian side to do something here to bring an end to this war. That wasn’t his war, but he wants to see it come to an end”,  US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on US President Donald Trump’s position on the war in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump’s Special Representative Steve Witkoff has said that he is committed to achieving peace in Ukraine and the Middle East before the end of his term in office.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to discuss with US President Donald Trump ways to end russia’s war against Ukraine during the US leader’s visit to Scotland.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Beate Meinl–Reisinger has said that amid the rf’s aggression in Ukraine, she is open to a public discussion on her country’s potential giving up neutrality and possible accession to NATO.

Members of the European Parliament have proposed to shift the complete ban on russian gas imports to the EU from 2028 to 2027.

In Lithuania, representatives of the Union of the Fatherland – Lithuanian Christian Democrats have registered in the Seimas amendments to the law that would prevent Lithuanian citizens who also hold citizenship of hostile states from establishing political organizations or being members of them.

The Kondopoga and Segezha pulp and paper mills have complained that working on export markets under sanctions is not an easy task: marginal European markets are closed to products from the rf, while logistics to other markets has become much more complicated and expensive, making some regions de facto inaccessible.

“Negligent owners” of land in Leningrad region face land confiscation for hogweed on their land. In addition, the new federal law, which comes into force on March 1, 2026, stipulates that individuals who do not fight the weed will pay a fine of 20 to 50 thousand rubles, and legal entities will pay a fine of 400 to 700 thousand rubles.

St. Petersburg will become the first russian region to switch to the Max messenger for city services by order of the authorities. Experts say that it will be difficult for the russian service to compete with the most popular messengers, but if they are banned, users will have no choice but to switch to Max.

At the same time, six regions of russia have been obliged to transfer school chats to the government-controlled Max messenger: Tatarstan, Mari El, Altai, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Vladimir and Tver regions.

As of today, every tenth employee of St. Petersburg plants is a migrant worker.

Belaruskicry jewelry brand has been recognized as an “extremist formation” in belarus. The company’s most famous product is a chain with a pendant in the shape of belarus with a teardrop, as well as rings, earrings, and bracelets with symbols and words in belarusian.

The staff shortage in belarus has broken a new record, with employers looking for more than 220,500 employees. The largest staff shortage is observed in minsk, with 59,755 vacancies open there. Personnel are especially needed in IT, trade, and medicine.

Food inflation is gaining momentum in belarus. Prices for dairy products (+8–19 %), coffee (+40 %), meat (+10-20 %), and bakery products (+7-40 %) have increased.