July 19, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“Our security is now at stake. Every day, Ukraine fights to defend not only the Ukrainian people, but the European people, the continent where our faith in freedom, democracy and the rule of law has been hard won and which wants to live in peace”, said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

At the summit of the European Political Community, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen called on the heads of state and government of 47 countries to mobilize efforts to provide Ukraine with the assistance that will help it not just not to lose, but to win the war with russia. “Compassion is not a weapon. It will not protect Ukraine. It will not protect the children of Ukraine. Only our joint actions will protect them”, Frederiksen emphasized.

“This new summit will be an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to peace, security and stability on the European continent, together with all our partners, and to reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine”, - President of France Emmanuel Macron commented on the European Political Community summit.

France is preparing a new package of military aid to Ukraine, which will include 128 VAB armored vehicles, 18 Caesar self-propelled howitzers, 24 light tanks, anti-tank missiles, trucks, radars, and other equipment.

In September 2024, more than two thousand Ukrainian servicemen will begin training at training centers in France.

“...The problem is not in decision-making. The problem is that we are not able to act. We make decisions, but unfortunately, they are implemented much later. And this is a problem”, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda said about the actions of Ukraine's partners.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the NATO mission in Germany to coordinate assistance to Ukraine will start working in September this year.

Ukraine has signed security agreements with the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

President of Switzerland Viola Amgerd has said that 87 countries have already signed the joint communiqué on the results of the Peace Summit, and new countries continue to join.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen emphasizes the need to form a real European Defense Union to respond to the security challenges facing Europe after the outbreak of russia's war against Ukraine. The President also considers it necessary to triple the size of the Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, – to 30,000 people.

The European Commission has given a positive assessment of the disbursement of about EUR 4.2 billion under the Ukraine Facility program, which is aimed at supporting Ukraine's macro-financial stability and the functioning of its public administration.

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Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof has promised to bring to justice those responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Digna Van Boetzelaer, the head of the investigation team in the case of the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing-777, emphasized that the investigation could be resumed if new information becomes available, and there are no time limits.

At the plenary session, the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania supported the proposal of President Gitanas Nausėda to denounce the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Cluster Munitions, which was violated by the rf by using them in the war against the Ukrainian people.

Permanent Representatives of the EU countries have agreed to extend economic sanctions against russia until the end of January 2025.

Lithuania calls on the EU to speed up the process of giving up russian liquefied natural gas.

Slovakia will not receive oil from russia's Lukoil through the pipeline due to the transit ban imposed by Ukraine.

In the United States, a court sentenced russian maksim marchenko, who was accused of illegally purchasing and transporting dual-use American electronics to russia, to three years in prison and a similar period of supervised release.

The German company Nukem Technologies Engineering Services, which belonged to rosatom and was engaged in decommissioning of nuclear power plants, has announced the sale of russian assets to the Japanese IT company Muroosystems Corp. To get out of russian control, the German management has launched a bankruptcy procedure, having removed rosatom from the management of the company.

Financing of the russian state “comprehensive plan for the modernization and expansion of the mainline infrastructure” in the first half of the year decreased three times compared to last year, – to 27.8 billion rubles, which is only 21.8% of the annual plan.

One of the largest producers of champignons in russia, the national mushroom company “kashira”, is facing bankruptcy due to a debt of almost 1.5 billion rubles.

“russian agricultural bank” has announced that payments with UnionPay cards outside of russia will be suspended starting July 19. “If you are outside of the rf, we recommend withdrawing cash from UnionPay cards”, the bank emphasized.

The net profit of the russian automobile company “kamaz” in the first half of the year decreased 20.3 times – to 641.1 million rubles.

Attendance at russian shopping centers in the first half of 2024 decreased by 12%. In particular, according to the russian company “focus technologies”, the number of customers in perfume and cosmetics stores decreased by 3%, DIY stores – by 8%, clothing and footwear – by 10%, and children's goods – by 12%.

The russian public opinion foundation has reported that inflation in russia has increased by 14.2%. russians who have no savings (according to the central bank, 56% in July) believe that inflation will keep increasing in the coming months.

The government of the rf has authorized the management of the central bank of the rf to carry and use pistols and submachine guns.

Estonia, following Latvia and Lithuania, has also banned the entry of cars with registration numbers issued in the rf.

On July 19, the rb unilaterally established a visa-free regime for entry and exit from the country through all existing road and rail checkpoints for citizens of 35 European countries. The visa-free regime will be in effect until December 31, 2024 at land and air checkpoints. The current regime of visa-free entry through land checkpoints for citizens of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and other countries will also remain.

self-proclaimed president of the rb lukashenko has said that there are 175,000 legal acts in force in the country. He called it a disaster that some of them are overloaded and difficult to read and understand. Certain issues are overregulated, many provisions are repeated, and numerous amendments are made to the acts.

Pursuant to the resolution of the prosecutor of mogilev region, the state inspectorate for telecommunications of the ministry of communications of the rb has restricted access to the website of the association of political prisoners of the rb. As of July 18, human rights activists recognized 1,388 people as political prisoners in the rb.