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

The government of the United Kingdom is ready to transfer £8 billion (over $10.6 billion) of frozen russian assets to support Ukraine.

21 countries have contributed over $4 billion to NATO’s PURL initiative to finance the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine.

Slovenia plans to allocate about EUR 43 million to purchase American weapons for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the PURL program.

“The unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential. And I constantly say, repeat, emphasize: we need to work together, we must work together,” said President of France Emmanuel Macron.

“We are looking for another option to settle (the war) between russia and Ukraine, if that is possible. And I believe that we will eventually achieve this,” said US President Donald Trump.

“Cyprus is ready and is doing everything possible on its part to help Ukraine become a member of the European Union,” said President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides.

Canada, Lithuania, Sweden, and Ukraine have signed a Joint Declaration on the creation of the new Ukraine Transport Support Fund.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Sweden Benjamin Dusa has announced that his country will gradually phase out aid to five countries (Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Liberia, and Bolivia) in the coming years and use the funds to increase support for Ukraine.

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“In the last 100 years, russia has invaded at least 19 countries, many around this table, some as many as three or four times. None of these 19 countries ever invaded or attacked russia,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

“The rf continues its illegal, unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. It has violated the airspace of Poland, Estonia, and Romania, and continues to attack other states in the hybrid and cyber spheres. We cannot accept this. Therefore, I want to emphasize once again: the Netherlands will steadfastly support Ukraine in its right to self-defense – for as long as it takes”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands David van Weel.

Norway plans to purchase two more submarines from Germany to monitor the rf’s submarines. The country has already signed a contract for the construction of four modern submarines.

Batches of russian ESPO Blend oil loaded in December are being sold in Chinese ports at a record discount of $5–$6 per barrel to the Brent benchmark. Discounts on ESPO Blend in China have increased amid declining demand: state-owned refineries, traditionally the largest consumers of raw materials from the rf, have suspended purchases due to recent Western sanctions, while private refiners are cautious about working with russian companies.

In russia, several key projects for russian lithographers needed for the production of sovereign processors and microchips have been suspended by the government due to a lack of funding.

In the first 10 months of 2025, russian banks’ consumer loan portfolios shrank by 11 %.

According to Minister of Labour Anton Kotyakov, by 2032, russia’s economy needs to attract 12.2 million workers.

Incity, one of the largest clothing chains in russia, has gone bankrupt.

Following WhatsApp and FaceTime, SnapChat has been blocked in russia.

Most indigenous communities in russia have received multimillion-dollar land tax bills. They did not pay it before, but in 2024, amendments were made to the tax code. For example, one community, which is engaged in reindeer herding and hunting on 224,219.81 hectares, received a tax bill of 2.7 million rubles for that land.

Against the background of former prisoners returning from the war against Ukraine, the number of serious crimes committed by organized criminal groups in russia increased by a third over the year. Organized groups or criminal communities committed 44,000 serious crimes, which is by 33.6 % more than in the same period in 2024. The total number of group crimes increased by 18 %. The increase in criminal activity is also confirmed by court statistics. The number of people convicted under Part 1 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the rf (organization of a criminal community) has increased almost fourfold in three years of war. Under the parts of the Article concerning participation in a criminal organization, the number of convicts has doubled. In the first six months of 2025, 333,251 serious and particularly serious crimes were registered in russia, which is the highest figure in the last 15 years and by 10.4 % more than a year earlier.

The government of moscow region will no longer be interested in people’s opinions on development issues. According to the ruling, such decisions can now be made without public hearings.

Prime Minister of Lithuania Inga Ruginenė has said that belarus’ actions, in particular the intrusion of weather balloons into Lithuanian airspace, could be considered acts of terrorism.

Poland has decided to extend the buffer zone on its border with belarus until March 2026.

Since December 1, the Czech Republic has stopped accepting any postal items to belarus.

Almost every fifth worker in belarus is close to retirement age or has already reached it. According to forecasts, the total replacement workforce need for the next five years will be more than 300,000 workers. The number of people employed in the belarusian economy is declining. While it decreased by 86,000 people between 2016 and 2020, it is expected to decrease by 152,500 people between the beginning of 2021 and June 2025.