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

The European Commission welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s open letter to putin calling for direct negotiations, noting that this is further confirmation of our country’s commitment to genuine negotiations and a ceasefire.

US  President Donald Trump has expressed support for the possibility of a bilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and russia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Johann Wadephul has called on Putin to begin negotiations to end the war against Ukraine and emphasized the need for Europe’s participation in a potential negotiation process.

President of France Emmanuel Macron has announced that the next meeting of the Coalition of the Willing will take place in Paris on July 13–14.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) are expanding their support for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and large companies in Ukraine by  EUR 315 million. This will enable businesses to attract  EUR 2 billion in new loans, provide financing to at least 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, and preserve approximately 180,000 jobs. Additionally, the “Revival of Ukrainian SMEs” program is being launched, which is expected to provide approximately  EUR 135 million in financing and advisory support for small and medium-sized enterprises and startups in Ukraine.

European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner has reported that participants in the discussion during the EU Home Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg leaned toward the idea that temporary protection for Ukrainians in the European Union should be extended beyond March 2027.

“This is the third significant security incident in Romania in recent weeks. These incidents are a direct consequence of russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” said President of the European Council António Costa regarding the drone explosion in the Romanian port of Constanța.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Anita Orban has stated that her country seeks to restore trust in its relations with Ukraine.

Kyiv will host the first international forum of military ombudsmen.

rf

Deputy prime minister of the rf aleksandr novak has called the labor shortage one of the key risks to the russian economy.

russia has no plans to create a special fund to protect enterprises under attack by drones. According to minister of finance of the rf anton siluanov, companies have sufficient financial resources to independently purchase the necessary protective equipment.

russians are short on money until payday, so the “vtb” is receiving a significant number of requests from its retail customers for payday loan services.

In 2025, the production volume of gold and silver jewelry and jewelry components in russia amounted to 283 billion rubles. This is by 3.8% less than in 2024. By the end of 2025, russian jewelers had reduced their consumption of pure gold by 22.7% compared to 2024.

Production of games and toys in russia in 2025 fell by 6% compared to 2024.

“Chinese investors in the energy sector are facing a shortage of professionals in russia,” complained Deputy Secretary-General of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in russia Hua Se.

aeroflot CEO sergey aleksandrovsky has reported that the russian airline’s jet fuel costs on its international network have more than doubled. Since the beginning of 2026, jet fuel costs have risen by 7%.

At the end of 2025, one of russia’s largest agricultural holdings, “prostory”, reported a net loss of 1.6 billion rubles. The group’s total revenue decreased by 10.5%. The holding’s gross profit fell by 15.6% amid a 2.9% reduction in the cost of sales.

russian officials are proud that, due to sanctions, they were finally able to localize the production of heaters at the izhevsk heat engineering plant. Although just five years ago, russian industry could not even manufacture meat grinders without imported parts.

One-third of organizations in udmurtia are operating at a loss. Profitability of sales has also declined in the region. In the first quarter of 2026, organizations in udmurtia earned 9.3 kopecks in profit for every ruble of expenses incurred, which is  by 1.4 kopecks less than in the first quarter of 2025.

In belarus, control over emigrants and conscripts is being tightened. The belarusian Helsinki Committee has published a review entitled “Human Rights in belarus: Key Trends in State Policy” for January–April 2026. The document tells about  the expansion of cross-border repression practices,  intensification of collective responsibility, and growth of military control over citizens. The authors of the review also draw attention to changes in legislation which, in their opinion, strengthen the vertical of power and create additional mechanisms of state control.

belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves shrank  by $228.6 million in May. This marks the second reduction in the state treasury this year: in March, assets decreased by $1.1 billion.