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

The European Commission has approved a package of legislative proposals that will allow Ukraine to receive a EUR 90 billion loan from the European Union to meet its financial and military needs in 2026–2027. “This proposal provides for the allocation of EUR 90 billion in two parts. One third, or EUR 30 billion, will go to budget support. Two-thirds of the EUR 90 billion will go to military support, which amounts to EUR 60 billion,” said President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

“We are aware of Ukraine’s significant and urgent financing needs. That is why we want to start payments in April. We are working with EU co-legislators to ensure the legislative process, which we hope will be completed in March, so that payments can be made in April,” said European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis regarding the loan to Ukraine for 2026-2027.

The Netherlands considers it necessary to grant Ukraine the right to use European funds to purchase weapons not only from manufacturers in EU countries, but also from third countries, including the USA.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stressed the urgent need to provide Ukraine with air defense systems and interceptor missiles amid intensifying russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population and infrastructure.

Minister of Finance of Estonia Jürgen Ligi has called on European governments to make every effort to finance Ukraine.

The government of Spain has approved a contract for the production and supply to Ukraine of Lanza LTR-25 long-range tactical radar systems, as well as logistical support.

CEO of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall Armin Papperger has announced that deliveries of Skyranger 35 self-propelled air defense systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces are proceeding according to schedule. Ukraine has also chosen a new location for the construction of an ammunition production plant.

The UN and its partners plan to provide $2.3 billion in aid to 4.1 million people in Ukraine in 2026.

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“...Our proposal for a reparations loan remains on the agenda... It is also extremely important for us to send a stern reminder to russia: we reserve the right to use immobilized russian assets,” said President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

“russia is still a threat to Europe. And Donald Trump is currently the only leader who can resolve this problem, and we must support him in this process,” said President of Poland Karol Nawrocki.

Minister of Defence of the FRG Boris Pistorius has supported the increase in the presence of the Bundeswehr, as well as the armed forces of other European NATO member states, in the Arctic region, given the security challenges posed by russia and China.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan has stated that russia’s direct participation in the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” project is not expected. “russia’s participation in the project has not been discussed. The scope of TRIPP’s activities is already clear,” said the Minister.

Venezuela’s authorities believe that their long-standing cooperation with moscow in the field of security has turned out to be a “paper tiger”, pointing to the inability of the russian special services to help protect the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro. And they are not alone: from Damascus and Tehran to Havana, over the past 13 months, authoritarian regimes that previously benefited from close ties with the kremlin, have faced a lack of russia’s support just when it was most needed.

The World Bank has lowered its forecast for russia’s GDP growth in 2026 to 0.8%, down by 0.4% from its June estimates.

Trade turnover between China and russia has declined for the first time in five years. Total trade volume has fallen to 1.63 trillion yuan due to falling demand for Chinese cars in russia and cheaper russian oil sold to China. The volume of bilateral trade in yuan decreased by 6.5% in 2025. Chinese exports to russia decreased by 9.9% last year, while imports from russia fell by 3.4%.

russian oil companies continue to experience difficulties selling barrels to India and China and are forced to store unsold raw materials on tankers converted into floating storage facilities. Since late November, when the USA imposed sanctions on “rosneft” and “lukoil” and Indian and Chinese refineries began refusing shipments, 35 million barrels of russian oil have been sitting on tankers at sea. Export shipments have dropped by 450,000 barrels per day from their Christmas peak. The cost of exported oil has fallen to its lowest level since 2022.

Chairman of the russian-Iranian business council leonid lozhechko has reported regular complaints from russian businessmen about non-fulfillment of obligations in Iran. russian businesses in Iran face demands for immediate payment without documentation, price changes due to exchange rate differences, and unilateral contract cancellations. russian companies find it difficult to adapt to the legal and administrative norms in force in Iran. Besides, according to the russians, some aspects of Iranian legislation significantly complicate or make it practically impossible for russian companies to have a full-fledged corporate presence in the country.

russia faced a significant decline in grain exports in the first half of the current agricultural year (July-December 2025). Total shipments of major crops amounted to 33.9 million tons, which is by 17.6% less than in the same period a year earlier. The number of countries importing russian wheat fell from 69 to 49. Deliveries to the largest buyer, Egypt, dropped by 21%.

Loading on the Far Eastern Railway in 2025 decreased by 4.8% compared to the previous year. The main decline last year was in the transportation of oil and oil products (by 5.7%), forest products (by 8.9%), coal (by 1.9%), industrial raw materials and molding materials (by 20.3%). There was also a significant decline in container transportation, with a 13.1% drop compared to the same period last year over the first 11 months of the year.

New cars have risen in price by an average of 1.5–3% since the beginning of the year. Prices will continue to rise in the coming weeks and will reach 5–10% by the end of the first quarter. The reason for this is an increase in VAT and recycling fees. Due to these factors (especially the recycling  fees), car prices began to rise in the autumn, meaning that the actual increase in car prices for buyers due to government measures to compensate for the decline in budget revenues caused by sanctions and lower oil prices will be even greater. Other goods and services will also become more expensive due to the change in the VAT rate.

In 2025, developers brought 41 million square meters of housing to the russian market, while the launch of new projects decreased by 12%. Last year’s decline was much greater than in 2022, when launches decreased by 4.5%.

Every fourth apartment building in russia needs major repairs, and every tenth is in disrepair.

In 2025, 627,900 serious and particularly serious crimes were committed in russia. This is a record high for the last 15 years – the last time more serious and particularly serious crimes were recorded was in 2010. At that time, 684,300 such crimes were committed in russia. The number of serious and particularly serious crimes has been growing for the third year in a row. The largest increase in the number of serious and particularly serious crimes was in the far east and dagestan. In yakutia, this indicator increased by 60.7%, in kamchatka – by 18.7%, in dagestan – by 15.3%, and in Sakhalin – by 12%.

The number of trips within russia in 2025 increased only by 1%. The loss of interest is associated with a decline in demand for resorts in the krasnodar territory. Tourists who continue to focus on vacationing within russia are cutting back on spending. Consumers are waiting for “hot deals”, postponing their travel decisions until the last minute. Many travelers are switching to apartments and flats, where a night can cost one and a half to two times less than in a hotel. Travel expenses in russia in 2025 have increased by an average of about 7%. The cost of a night sold within the country has increased by 8%.

The only maternity hospital in kemerovo region was closed, and women in labor were  advised to go to novokuznetsk, where nine newborns died during the New Year holidays due to the improper performance of their duties by doctors. Currently, eight more children are in extremely serious condition.

Cargo turnover at the murmansk sea trade port (MSTP) decreased by 30% – from 13.97 million tons in 2024 to 9.73 million tons in 2025. About 20% of port workers had to be laid off. MSTP is the only universal port in the European part of russia that has direct access to the World Ocean and year-round navigation. The murmansk sea fishing port had reduced its cargo turnover by 41.70% in the 10 months since the beginning of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

russians who changed their sporting citizenship began to be denied visas for European competitions. Former russian figure skaters karina akopova, nikita rakhmanin, and semyon danilyants, who changed their sports citizenship and joined the Armenian national team, will not be able to participate in the European Figure Skating Championship to be held in Sheffield, England.

The russian ski jumping team will not go to the 2026 Olympics despite being admitted – they were not given visas to Europe for 3D scanning and chipping of their jumpsuits.

The speaker of the lower house of the russian parliament volodin has banned deputies from publicly discussing “unpleasant” or “sensitive” topics.

The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2026 report, prepared by the UN economic departments, states that belarus’ GDP grew by 1.5% in the first 10 months of 2025. This result is one of the lowest among post-soviet countries. Only russia’s economy grew more modestly (0.8%). Asian countries Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were among the leaders (10.9% and 7%, respectively).

The leaders in price growth in 2025 in the rb were cocoa powder (+72.7%), apples (+53.5%), and ground coffee (+36%). Salted herring and fresh cabbage became more expensive by a quarter. Other fish products also became significantly more expensive, for example, salted and smoked fish (+18.4%), semi-finished products (+17.7%), and ready-made products (+16%). The price of honey increased by 24.4%, and  of chocolate – by 23.3%. Cornflakes (+21.9%), chips (+21.6%), muesli and other dry breakfast cereals (+18.9%), carrots (+18.8%), halva (+18.3%), peas and beans (+17.3%) were also among the top price increases. Among meat products, pork and various meat-filled pastries saw the most significant price increases. In both cases, the growth exceeded 14%. Cheese desserts led the way in dairy products (+12.5%). At this, milk rose in price by 9.9%, kefir – by 9.1%, and sour cream – by 8.3%.