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

At its first meeting, the Bundesrat (Federal Council, upper house of the German Parliament) adopted a resolution in which it commits itself to continue supporting Ukraine, which is under attack from russia. The resolution states that support for Ukraine is a shared responsibility of the Federal Government, the lands, and municipalities and requires coordinated cooperation at all levels of government.

“On Thursday, February 12, 2026, the United Kingdom and Germany will convene a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group on issues of defence of Ukraine at NATO Headquarters,” the Alliance said in a statement.

The US Department of Defense has signed a $235 million contract for the maintenance of F-16 fighter jets, including those transferred to Ukraine.

Ukraine and Poland are deepening their cooperation in the defense sector, particularly in strengthening the Air Forces, and will work together to modernize the MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland plans to transfer.

Ireland is allocating EUR 25 million to support Ukraine’s energy sector.

European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis has said that Ukraine may receive the first tranche of the  EUR 90 billion EU loan in early April.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys has sent a letter to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court asking them to issue new arrest warrants for russians for destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“We have concluded that the principle of self-determination cannot be applied to Crimea and the Donbas, so in this situation, the principle of Ukraine’s territorial integrity prevails,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres commented on russia’s appeal for “self-determination” for Crimea and the Donbas.

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EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has said that the European Union’s new, 20th package of sanctions against russia is scheduled to be approved on February 24. The EU plans to impose a complete ban on the provision of maritime services to russia. The package will also include measures in the energy sector and fertilizer trade. She has also stressed that a number of EU countries support the idea of banning participants in russia’s war against Ukraine from entering the EU.

The decision to add russia to the EU’s anti-money laundering blacklist came into force on January 29. In practice, this will lead to increased supervision and scrutiny in Europe of all financial transactions related to russia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece has informed russia of restrictions on the movement of russian diplomats within the European Union. The Greek side demands advance notification of any russian embassy staff members’ intention to cross Greece’s border. The movement of russian embassy staff in Greece to other Schengen countries will be carried out in accordance with the rules of each specific state.

All Canadian visa centers in the rf are no longer operational.

The russian oil company “lukoil” has transferred its fuel infrastructure at Chisinau Airport to Moldova.

According to experts at the economic forecasting center of gazprombank (russia’s third-largest state-owned bank in terms of assets), the liquid assets of the national wealth fund, which the government of the rf uses to compensate for the shortfall in oil and gas revenues, may be completely depleted in just over a year if current oil prices remain unchanged.

Chinese smartphone manufacturers have sent russian retailers notices of a 10–30% price increase for their products in February. Smartphones at the new prices will appear on store shelves in March–April. After that, gadgets will continue to rise in price throughout 2026 due to an increase in VAT, the introduction of the “chestny znak” (“honest mark”) labeling system, a technology tax, and rising component costs. After the spring wave, the next increase in smartphone prices will come in the summer.

In 2025, the largest number of loans in the rf were taken out by residents of chukotka – 41 loans per 100 residents of the region. High credit activity at the end of the year was also noted in sakhalin region – 39 loans per 100 residents, and in the nenets and yamalo-nenets autonomous districts – 38 loans per 100 people.

Authorities of the rf have recommended that scientists refrain from traveling to symposiums in “unfriendly” countries.

The state duma committee on protection of family has recommended to adopt amendments to the Code of administrative offenses regarding fines for “discrediting traditional russian spiritual and moral values” by publishing content in online cinemas and social networks. Fines will range from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles for citizens, up to 100,000 rubles for officials, and up to 700,000 rubles for legal entities. For repeat violations, fines will range from 150,000 rubles for individuals and up to 3 million rubles for legal entities. At this, chair of the committee nina ostanina has pointed out that there is no law defining traditional russian values.

In four regions of Siberia, salaries for state employees have begun to be delayed due to financial problems.

Head of the patriarchal commission on the protection of family, motherhood and childhood (russian orthodox church) fyodor lukyanov has said that children should know God first and foremost, not their parents. In this case, they “will not become drug addicts” and “will not join destructive structures”.

European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius considers it premature to raise the issue of lifting EU sanctions against belarus. “I do not see any signs why Europe, which imposed sanctions because of lukashenko’s actions, should now lift them. Have lukashenko’s actions really changed so much?” he said.

lukashenko has finally admitted that belarus does not have large reserves of minerals such as oil or rare earth metals. For years, he had been demanding that oil be found in belarus and “felt in his gut that it was there” and believed in success, because “it cannot be that a person searches for oil and does not find it”.

Internet access in belarus is in a deplorable state. The rb has average wired internet speeds by global standards, while its mobile speeds rank fourth from the bottom in the world.