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

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen have discussed a peace plan for Ukraine and the use of frozen russian assets. The parties have agreed that Europe will support Ukraine in achieving a just peace.

“This is russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine – and against Europe. And if Ukraine falls, the war will not stop. Just as in 1938, the Sudetenland was not enough. putin will not stop,” said Chancellor of the FRG Friedrich Merz.

“...Peace is not far off, we can see it,” President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he is optimistic about the chances of an agreement that will end russia’s war against Ukraine.

On December 16, the next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format will be held virtually, co-chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom.

EU sanctions on belarusian exports of potash fertilizers remain in force and their lifting is not being discussed,  – said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

The government of Germany  has announced that it has irrefutable evidence of moscow’s involvement in a large-scale cyberattack on the air traffic control system and a disinformation campaign aimed at destabilizing the country’s elections.

Germany will send additional military units to strengthen Poland’s eastern border with belarus and russia.

On December 15, taxi drivers in russian regions – from Bryansk to Primorye – will hold a “silent strike”.  The taxi drivers’ key demands are as follows: a reduction in aggregator commissions to 10 %, disclosure of destination information in requests, and a minimum order amount of no less than 150 rubles. According to employees of “Yandex Taxi”, their earnings are extremely low, even taking into account the increase in prices for passengers due to the high cost of car maintenance and fuel costs.

In the rf’s new draft law on transportation of children, individual entrepreneurs will be equated with legal entities and will be fined 200,000 rubles, while self-employed taxi drivers will be fined as officials – 25,000-50,000 rubles.

In 2024, russia accounted for only about 1.8 % of the global plant-based meat market. Plant-based milk in russia accounts for about 1 % of the dairy market, while in other developed countries it reaches 15 %.

On a live broadcast of the kremlin’s key propaganda media outlet – radio “komsomolskaya pravda” – there was candid talk about the real state of russia’s  economy. Orientalist and political scientist Sevostyanov has stated that russia has turned out to be a junior and vulnerable partner of China, completely dependent on the latter’s interests.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of deserters from the russian army. The occupiers are fleeing their positions due to the brutal treatment of their commanders and “meat grinder” assaults. The russian command has deployed reinforced checkpoints and patrols, while the military police are conducting raids in search of deserters.

Well-known opposition journalist and activist of the Union of Poles in belarus, winner of the Andrei Sakharov Prize Andrzej Poczobut  has  refused to write a request for clemency to the belarusian dictator.