January 23, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Ukraine and Albania have signed a 10-Year Agreement on Cooperation and Support. The signatories have also agreed that Tirana will join the Fighter Jet Coalition and help train Ukrainian pilots.

The German company KNDS Deutschland, a manufacturer of Leopard 2 tanks, has officially opened a joint venture with one of Ukraine's defense companies.

President of Finland Alexander Stubb believes that US President Donald Trump is very determined to achieve peace in Ukraine, and his administration does not want to lose on the Ukrainian direction.

“...We don't just want the conflict to end and then resume in two, three or four years. We want to ensure stability,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine.

“There is absolutely no doubt that we can do more to help Ukraine. With our help, they (Ukrainians) can win the war,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas. “Last year, member states collectively spent an average of 1.9% of GDP on defense, while russia spends 9%. We spend billions on our schools, social protection, and healthcare, but if we don't invest more in defense, all of this is at risk”, she added.

European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Andrzej Domanski, Minister of Finance of Poland which currently holds the EU presidency, has said that Ukraine's financial needs in 2025 will be fully covered by the EU and G7 macro-financial mechanisms.

Chancellor of the FRG Olaf Scholz has assured that the allies will soon work out security guarantees for Ukraine, as even after the war is over, it is necessary to ensure a secure future for our country.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel Sharren Haskel has offered to transfer russian weapons captured in Lebanon or “elsewhere from Israel’s enemies” to Ukraine.

Minister of Defence of Italy Guido Crosetto has said that the Italian Government is thinking about “continuing to support Ukraine in order to finally create the conditions for a ceasefire and open the necessary diplomatic discussion to achieve lasting peace.”

Ukraine and Norway have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the defense industry and attract investment to Ukraine.

Ministers of the Government of the Czech Republic have criticized the plans of the head of the so-called “shadow government” of the country's largest opposition party, Karel Havlicek, to curtail the Shell Initiative to support Ukraine if he comes to power. For example, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky compared his statement to a proposal to turn off oxygen to a patient in intensive care, while Defense Minister Jana Černochová considers support for our country a “moral obligation.”

Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk believes that the European Union must arm itself to “survive” in an increasingly uncertain world order.

“russia is now much closer to having one or more of its high-ranking officials indicted by the International Criminal Court for the crime of genocide in Ukraine. Many military actions can be qualified as ongoing acts of genocide,” said David Scheffer, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes.

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European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius has said that the EU should have no doubt about putin's intentions. “He may not stop at Ukraine. He wants to turn back the clock. Not for 20 years. But for 40 years or more. To the soviet union. Even to the russian empire. This is clear from everything putin and his propagandists say. This could mean annexation, occupation of a part of Europe,” he assured. If the EU does not respond to hybrid attacks now, they may be followed by military ones, Andrius Kubilius believes.

Germany is calling on the European Union to take more decisive action against hybrid threats from russia, including the expansion of the EU sanctions regime. Germany's proposals for countering russia's hybrid threats are set out in a document that the German Foreign Ministry has spread among other EU states “to pave the way for coordinated measures.”

US President Donald Trump allowed new sanctions to be imposed on the rf if putin refuses to start peace talks on the war in Ukraine. He also called on President of China Xi Jinping to help stop the war. “I think russia will have big problems. Look at their economy. Look at their inflation,” President Trump said about the rf's prospects for continuing its aggression in Ukraine.

Ben Hodges, former Commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, believes that russian troops at the front are “barely moving,” and that claims that Ukraine cannot resist are false. “russia does not have the capacity to defeat Ukrainian forces, and its only hope is that the West will surrender,” said the General.

Elise Stefanik, a candidate for the post of the USA’s Permanent Representative to the UN, has said she intends to fight russia's veto power in the Security Council.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said that the EU should gradually reduce energy tariffs amid giving up russian fossil fuels, and a plan to reduce these tariffs will be presented next month.

Indian banks started blocking payments for russian oil after new US sanctions.

At least two banks in Kazakhstan – Home Credit Bank and Kaspi Bank – have suspended issuing debit cards to russians without a permit to reside in the country.

A draft law, submitted to the Parliament of Latvia, will ban citizens of the rf and the rb and legal entities owned by them from purchasing real estate in the country.

Lithuania has exposed a scheme to supply high-tech equipment subject to Western sanctions to russia. 10 people involved in the case have been charged with violating sanctions.

During the first full week after the latest sanctions, January 13 through 19, russian oil exports amounted to 2.75 million barrels per day. This is by 9% less than the week before, and the lowest figure in almost a year – from the week to January 28, 2024, when it was 2.63 million. The less volatile four-week data (2.94 million barrels) showed an even more significant decline to a 16-month low. The average daily supply for the first three weeks of January 2025 was by 10% (340 thousand barrels) lower than the average for the entire previous year.

At the end of 2024, the rf’s economy faced a plummet in export revenues. In December, exporters shipped abroad $31.3 billion in goods, and their revenue plummeted by 19% year-on-year. Of this amount, $25.7 billion left the country to pay for imports. As a result, the net inflow from foreign trade (trade surplus) fell to $5.6 billion, the lowest since 2020. If we take into account exports and imports of services, the russian economy earned only $2 billion in trade surplus in December, which is also the lowest level since the pandemic.

In 2024, russian importers were unable to pay for goods worth billions of dollars.

Following gazprom, sberbank has started massive layoffs.

In 2024, the number of closed showrooms of Chinese car brands in russia increased 2.4 times, to 449 outlets.

Potatoes became the most expensive food product in russia, with prices having risen by almost 92% from December 2023 to December 2024. Prices for onions, cabbage, and salmon caviar have also increased significantly. Butter, whose price increase was actively discussed in 2024, is only fifth on the list. The price of butter went up by 36%. In general, vegetables and fruits went up by 22% year-on-year.

In December 2024, the average total cost of credit in the credit card segment in russia increased to 38.8%. This is a record high for at least four years.

Against the background of sharply accelerating inflation, russians’ average expenditure in 2024 increased by 17% year-on-year to RUB 39.5 thousand a month.

member of the state duma of the rf nikolai burlyaev asked the investigative committee to investigate the circumstances of the death of poet mikhail lermontov, who died in a duel in 1841. Last spring, he put forward an initiative to introduce a new subject in russian schools – chastity lessons. He also advocated decriminalization of domestic violence.

The European Parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling on the EU not to recognize the “presidential election” to be held in the rb on January 26. The resolution condemns the ongoing repression in the rb and its intensification before the so-called “elections”. “Emphasizing the non-recognition of lukashenko as president and the position that the entire belarusian regime is illegitimate, MEPs express their unwavering support for the belarusian people in their quest for democracy, freedom and respect for human rights,” reads the text. The MEPs condemn the lukashenko regime's complicity in russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and its transformation into a subordinate entity within the “union state”.

Poland’s Minister for EU Affairs Adam Szlapka expressed support for the belarusian people in their struggle for democracy and emphasized that the previous presidential election in the rb was “neither free nor fair”. Shlapka said that the EU is ready to increase sanctions against belarusian authorities if the repressions do not stop.

Members of election commissions and observers involved in another election fraud in the rb were appointed in September 2024, before the official announcement of the election date. These people were appointed by the authorities as members of the commissions based on the results of checks by the kgb-mia for loyalty to lukashenko.

The rb will cancel domain names “capable of harming national interests”.

Sociology in a dictatorship: more than 70% of belarusians trust law enforcement agencies, said aleksandr postalovsky, deputy director of the institute of sociology of the national academy of sciences of the rb.