July 12, 2023 Ukraine and the World - Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The Ukrainian combat control and information processing system Delta has successfully passed NATO tests, in particular on interoperability with F-16 fighters.

France has already begun delivering a “significant number” of SCALP long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.

The government of Norway will increase by 2.5 billion Norwegian crowns (almost $ 240 million) the size of the fund of military assistance to Ukraine in 2023.

Germany is transferring to Ukraine a new package of military aid worth almost EUR 700 million: two launchers “Patriot”, 40 infantry fighting vehicles Marder, 25 tanks “Leopard 1A5”, five armored recovery vehicles Bergepanzer 2, 20 thousand artillery ammunition and 5 thousand 155-mm smoke ammunition, means of detection and counteraction to drones, as well as a complex of UAVs LUNA.

Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz has said that the G7 countries will adopt a joint declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak has confirmed his thesis about “Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO”.

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said that Ukraine should join NATO “as soon as possible” after the war.

President of Poland Andrzej Duda has pointed out that “it is in Poland's interests that Ukraine joins NATO as soon as possible”, because it has “a strong army with great experience”.

Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas has supported Ukraine's membership in NATO, recalling that there were doubts about the need to expand the Alliance during the accession of Eastern European countries.

Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre believes that the NATO summit should emphasize the future prospect of Ukraine's accession to the Alliance.

Prime Minister of Latvia Krišjānis Kariņš believes that for lasting peace in Europe, Ukraine must become a member of NATO.

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda sees the readiness of NATO leaders to approve a decision, which will mention a certain “invitation” for Ukraine. Nausėda also called on NATO to abandon its restrictions on the creation of permanent defensive bases near the russian borders.

A group of Lithuanian statesmen – including signatories of the Act on the Restoration of Independence and former Presidents – signed a joint statement calling on NATO leaders to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance.

President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel believes that achievements on the battlefield in Ukraine by the end of 2023 could become the basis for negotiations.

Prime Minister of Bulgaria Nikolai Denkov, commenting on the USA’s provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine, said that the successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the battlefield are more important than the signed conventions.

The Baltic states will fully open their airspace to NATO.

NATO Allies have agreed on defense plans in case of russia’s attack.

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Rob Bauer, has said that russia is now weakened because of the war against Ukraine, and the Alliance has time to take care of strengthening collective security.

Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller has said that “the world will definitely hold russia accountable” in case if it attacks the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

22 EU mobile operators and seven Ukrainian ones have agreed to extend for another 12 months the agreement on the abolition of roaming charges for Ukrainian citizens.

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Poland has deprived russian businessman vyacheslav kantor of all his 19.82% stake in the Polish fertilizer company Grupa Azoty.

Poland is selling the russian company novatek’s subsidiary novatek green energy, it is assumed that the money received from the sale will not be transferred to the owners of novatek green energy, but will be frozen.

According to the Kimberley Process, in 2022 russia had to reduce exports of rough diamonds by 24%, to 36.7 million carats.

The John Hopkins University’s list of ranking of countries with the highest inflation, traditionally consisting of the poorest countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as well as odious authoritarian countries such as Iran, now includes russia. With an indicator of 68 %, the rf is the 9th between Egypt (8th place) and Iran (10th place).

Since the beginning of 2023, the cost of repairing apartments in russia has increased by 11% due to logistical difficulties and the devaluation of the ruble. According to the forecast, in the second half of the year, prices will rise by another 10-15%. Production in russia of more than half of the main construction materials is 70-100% dependent on European and American equipment, many categories require imported raw materials.

russian-made materials have also risen in price: interior doors and aerated concrete blocks – by 10%, varnishes and paints – by 49.2%, dry construction mixtures – by 21.8%, consumables – by 21%.

The decrease in the purchasing power of russians has led to their almost not using anti-virus software: in six months, its sales decreased by 61%. At the same time, the number of cyber-attacks on russia in 2023 has increased by more than 60%.

In July, car dealers of the rf by 10 % raised prices for new cars in showrooms, by the beginning of autumn the prices are expected to increase by 15 %.

Due to the disruption of the holiday season in the temporarily occupied Crimea, the rise in the cost of holidaying in other regions and abroad, in russia, sales of inflatable pools and swimming circles have significantly decreased – by 37% and 33%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2022.

The civic chamber of the rf has proposed to catch homeless people, identify them and send them for forced labor.

President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda has said that belarus is really becoming a problem. “This is not the belarus of 2020. Now we should have no illusions, this country is no longer  independent, it is another province of the russian federation”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has condemned reports that russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in belarus. “We are closely monitoring, but so far we do not see any changes that require a response from our side”, the Secretary General said.

According to belstat, the negative balance of foreign trade in belarus in goods exceeded $ 1.35 billion. Imports exceeded exports by this amount. In May, the balance increased by 27%.

minister of agriculture and food of belarus igor brylo has said that the country will gather a good harvest this year, but the state order will not be fulfilled and grain will still have to be purchased abroad.

Many route carriers flying from minsk to the regions have raised prices for their services. The price of travel by buses of one of the large companies that carries passengers from minsk to moscow has also increased.

In minsk, there is an acute shortage of drivers of trolleybuses, trams, as well as drivers of buses of categories D and E. All parks of minsktrans have announced vacancies. They are ready to hire newcomers without experience who have category B or C driver licences.

In belarus, banned is the sale of beer drink and mead, made in russia. Low-alcohol drinks that did not pass quality control are in the register of dangerous products. The ban was imposed on the beer drink “khoroshaya devochka” (“good girl”- Transl.) with melon flavor with a strength of 5.2% from the russian producer from kursk LLC “magistral”. It contained unacceptable synthetic dyes undeclared by the manufacturer: yellow “sunset” E110, ponceau 4R E124, benzoic acid preservative E210, as well as benzoate salts. Besides, the actual value by volume of ethyl alcohol was lower: 4.0% instead of the declared 5.2%. Also, the manufacturer did not indicate the method of processing the beer drink and other information. And the marking does not mention the components “natural syrup Lux-8” and “dye Juicy strawberries”, which are indicated on the label.

As a result of sanctions, belarusneft is forced to look for equipment in China. First of all, belarusian oilmen are interested in heavy drilling rigs, mobile units for drilling side shafts, well workover machines and other equipment necessary for the extraction of reserves that are difficult to extract.