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

“Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are Ukraine. The EU firmly rejects and will never recognize the illegal so-called “elections” organized by russia in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, nor their results”, said Ambassador of the European Union to the United Nations Stavros Lambrinidis speaking at the UN General Assembly. “The EU considers that a full and unconditional ceasefire would best create the right conditions for real negotiations. Now more than ever, the UN membership needs to increase pressure on russia to stop the killing and to engage in meaningful negotiations.”

“During the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris, further important steps were taken. European countries are taking responsibility for the security guarantees that Ukraine needs, with the active support of the United States. putin must sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible and demonstrate his readiness to work towards achieving peace. Therefore, we will further increase pressure on russia,” said Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof.

“It is clear that Ukraine’s membership in the European Union is not only the best guarantee of security, but also the most effective path to prosperity and a better future for Ukrainians,” said President of the European Council António Costa.

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni has pointed out that Rome is ready to join in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.

“We are responsible for logistics. It is well known that Poland is home to the largest hub, a place where aid for Ukraine is organized. And this task is of sufficient, if not exceptional, importance,” said Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk on his country’s role in security guarantees for Ukraine.

Austria has joined the Coalition of the Willing as an observer state.

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President of France Emmanuel Macron has said that US President Donald Trump and he have agreed to impose new sanctions on the rf if it continues to delay concrete peace talks.

President of the European Council António Costa has said that Brussels is starting work on a new package of sanctions against russia, and that a European team is heading to Washington to work on this with American partners.

European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen has said that the EU does not plan to resume imports of russian energy resources, even in case of a peace agreement.

President of Finland Alexander Stubb believes that at the moment the kremlin is not interested in ending the war.

The Amsterdam District Court has arrested Gazprom’s assets for the third time this year. The shares of four Dutch subsidiaries of the concern were subject to precautionary measures. The court seized 100 % of the shares of Gazprom International Projects and 50 % of Wintershall Noordzee, owned by Gazprom International Limited (Kaliningrad region), as well as the shares of Gazprom Neft Badra and Gazprom Neft Middle East, owned by Gazprom Neft (renamed to “Western Asia”).

Indian refineries began demanding even greater discounts on russian oil over the new EU price ceiling.

The problem of payments through Chinese banks, which russian companies faced after the tightening of US sanctions, remains, said vice president of “Nornikel” (“Norilsk Nickel”– Transl.) Anton Berlin. Although putin has met with Xi Jinping twice in the last year, and russian officials have assured that difficulties in cross-border payments have been eliminated, in reality, according to Berlin, payments continue to be held up in banks for weeks.

The crisis in the russian metallurgical industry can be compared to what happened in the 1990s. This was stated by Alexander Shevelev, CEO of Severstal, one of russia’s largest metallurgical companies, which accounts for 14 % of the country’s total steel production. According to Shevelev, metallurgical companies have been hit by export restrictions related to sanctions.

The slowdown in growth in traffic on the Northern Sea Route is due to strong sanctions pressure, said head of “rosatom” Alexei Likhachev.

Shares in the state-owned hydroelectricity company RusHydro are falling in price following the announcement that authorities of the rf have approved a moratorium on dividend payments until 2029.

The russian government has drastically cut back on road repairs amid growing budget problems, with 13.5 trillion rubles to be spent on the war this year. Between January and August, the number of road repair contracts signed by state and municipal authorities decreased by 25 %. Spending on road works declined by 11 %.

The heavy truck market in russia in August 2025 recorded a 60 % decline compared to the same period last year. Sales declined in all segments, with particularly significant declines in sales of tractor trucks (-71 %), dump trucks (-68 %), and vans (-61 %). In addition, the market for cargo trailers and semi-trailers also showed a significant decline in sales in August: 1,643 units were sold. This is by 64 % fewer than in the same period last year.

Container transportation in russia in January–July 2025 decreased by 6 % year-on-year.

In St. Petersburg, the number of deals in the infrastructure real estate segment decreased to 4,300 between January and July 2025. Sales of parking spaces declined by 35 %, and of warehouse space – by 13 %. There has been a decrease in the average transaction price for both parking spaces (by 11 % to 1.6 million rubles) and storage rooms (by 12 % to 0.57 million rubles).

russia’s federal tax service has begun mass audits of russian citizens’ income earned in “unfriendly” countries. The audits cover not only 2024, but also previous periods – 2022 and 2023.

russians have begun to buy up rooms in communal apartments en masse amid rising interest rates and real estate prices.

A 75-volume orthodox encyclopedia edited by patriarch kirill was named “Book of the Year” in russia. Other winners included president’s aide medinsky and a group of z-writers, including zakhar prilepin.

Acting Minister of Internal Affairs of Lithuania Vladislav Kondratovich has said that the increase in the flow of illegal migrants on the border with Lithuania may be related to belarus’ desire to “clean up” its territory ahead of the upcoming joint exercise with russia, “Zapad”.

In response to a request from Latvia, the Border Guard of Finland has sent some of its officers to the country to strengthen border security with belarus due to the escalation of the illegal migration problem.

Over the year, belarus’ negative foreign trade balance increased 1.5 times and amounted to $3 billion 558.4 million.

belarus ranks first in the world in terms of alcohol-related mortality, with 164.3 deaths per 100,000 people.

lukashenko’s regime is facing a shortage of personnel and a growing budget deficit, which threatens to hit the pension system. The number of people of retirement age is growing, while the number of young professionals is declining. After the mass repressions of 2020, a huge number of qualified specialists left the country – not only medical professionals, but people from other fields as well. If the budget deficit becomes too acute and there is not enough money even to pay pensions, the regime will resort to new taxes and fees.