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

Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have appealed to the European Union to impose a ban on russian oil imports as soon as possible.

The next Ukraine Recovery Conference will take place in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, in 2027.

Estonia is contributing an additional EUR 125,000 to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, bringing the country’s total aid to EUR 2.75 million.

European Commission Spokesperson Guillaume Mercier has announced that the list of reforms Ukraine must implement to receive the second tranche of the EUR 90-billion EU package – amounting to EUR 8.35 billion in 2026 – has been approved by the European Commission and forwarded to the Council of the EU for approval.

Prime Minister of Latvia Andris Kulbergs believes it is not time yet for Europe to negotiate with russia and proposes instead to demonstrate strength to moscow.

Latvia plans to build a joint drone production facility with Ukraine near the border with russia.

Head of the Foreign Intelligence Agency of Poland (AW) Paweł Szota believes that russia may use “little green men” to carry out provocations in the Baltic states to test NATO’s reaction. In his view, russia regards Poland and the countries on NATO’s eastern flank as an obstacle to the realization of its imperial goals.

“I do not rule out the possibility that the russians might stage some kind of operation under a false flag on russian territory in order to create a pretext for an attack on one of the NATO countries,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski. Commenting on the current situation in the rf’s war against Ukraine, he emphasized that russia no longer holds the initiative.

Estonia has called on its European allies to show more “strategic patience” and to increase pressure on russia. This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna. According to Tsahkna, his country cannot predict when the war will end, but given the scale of russia’s military losses, a critical moment is “approaching”. “Now is the time to show this strategic patience, increase pressure on russia, and be prepared for any reactions on its part. This could be the starting point for ending the war,” he said.

UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has stated that the country’s foreign policy – including support for Ukraine and the restoration of ties with the EU – will not change following Keir Starmer’s resignation and the arrival of a new Prime Minister. In the context of Andy Burnham’s likely rise to power, Lammy emphasized that “a change in foreign policy is out of the question”. “We have consistently supported Ukraine under every successive government, and we will continue to do so,” he stressed.

Eleven countries have asked the European Gymnastics to ban the flags and national anthems of russia and belarus at competitions in Europe. The letter was signed by Germany, Austria, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Weak demand in China, which is not offset by rising consumption in India, will lead to a decline in metallurgical coal prices in the third quarter. russian coal could become by $8–12 cheaper per ton.

russia’s Financial System Stress Index (FSI) reached 2.47 points at the end of June, hitting its highest level since October 2022. The index came very close to the threshold of 2.5 points, exceeding which historically corresponds to periods of crisis in the financial system.

The russian economy’s mounting problems have intensified business dissatisfaction with the state’s expanding role in the economy. The combined share of top managers who believe the state’s role should be reduced to some extent (35.1%) has reached a 25-year high.

The federal tax service of the rf has recorded an increase in the number of cases where small and medium-sized businesses are conducting transactions “off the books”. The agency points out a rise in unreported cash revenue amid a growing tax burden and internet outages.

The fuel crisis, which has affected virtually all regions of russia, has hit road freight transport hard. In some cases, wait times at filling stations stretch around the clock, causing, for example, the daily mileage of trucks on the route to China to drop from 700 to 500 km.

Carriers have warned of at least 10% price increase due to fuel supply disruptions in russia.

The governor of the khabarovsk territory has stated that 70 out of the region’s 178 filling stations (about 40%) are experiencing fuel shortages.

In novosibirsk region, filling stations have suspended the sale of petrol to individual consumers. This has been announced by the acting head of the regional ministry of industry and trade.

In irkutsk region, the ministry of internal affairs and the russian guard will patrol queues at filling stations.

Prices for spare parts for foreign-made cars have risen sharply in russia, having increased by 15–20% since the beginning of the year.

This summer, about 19.3% of the fleet – 130 out of 673 aircraft – are grounded at russia’s 11 largest airlines. The main reason for the increased downtime this year is the inability to perform maintenance on the aircraft.

russia’s diamond mining company “alrosa” has decided to suspend mining operations at the “severalmaz” facility, which accounts for about 10% of the country’s diamond production. The reason is the company’s financial difficulties.

Shareholders of PJSC “gazprom” have approved the board of directors’ recommendation not to pay dividends for 2025.

“moyoffice”, the developer of office software that was intended to replace Microsoft Office in russia, has reported a net loss of 8.82 billion rubles for 2025.

Hot water is being cut off en masse in regions across russia due to billions in utility debts.

Foreigners from “unfriendly” countries are now facing restrictions on access to funds in their accounts and deposits in russia due to putin’s new decree. Among those facing this problem are holders of “talent visas” for highly qualified specialists, foreigners who have declared their commitment to “traditional russian spiritual and moral values”, as well as ethnic russians moving to russia from “unfriendly” countries.

“The only help belarus needs is more common sense so as not to allow itself to be dragged into this war… Wherever russia goes, it brings destruction in its wake, as we have seen. And because belarus is facilitating russia’s military aggression, we will continue to impose sanctions,” said European Commission Spokesperson Anitta Hipper.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys, during a meeting with the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher drew attention to restrictions on religious freedom in belarus.

Members of the European Parliament, in a joint statement, have expressed solidarity with belarusians who suffered from torture and other gross human rights violations.

The number of individual entrepreneurs in belarus continues to decline. As of June 1 of this year, there were 200,017 individual entrepreneurs in belarus. This is by 13.9% fewer than a year earlier. The sectors with the largest declines in the number of individual proprietors over the past year were information and communications (-35.6%) and professional, scientific, and technical activities (-23.1%).