March 1, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“...I am clear that the UK is ready to send ground troops and put aircraft in the air to support the agreement, working with our allies. Because that is the only way for peace to last,” - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented on the readiness to ensure peace in Ukraine.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer has invited leaders from across continental Europe, NATO and the EU to a summit on Ukraine and security to be held in London on March 2. “The Prime Minister will use the summit to drive forward European action on Ukraine – signaling our collective unwavering support to securing a just and enduring peace, and a lasting deal, that ensures Ukraine's future sovereignty and security,” his office said.

EU Diplomacy Chief Kaja Kallas has reiterated that the only effective guarantee of security for Ukraine would be NATO membership.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that the Allies will continue to support our country. “On Ukraine, Allies are preparing billions more in aid + contributions to security guarantees,” the NATO Secretary General has added.

The Norwegian company Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace is negotiating the establishment of a company in Ukraine to produce missiles for NASAMS air defense systems.

Ukraine will receive a $58 million grant from Japan to implement the fourth phase of the emergency recovery program. The funds will be used for the following programs: humanitarian demining, energy, water supply, public health and safety, education, and restoration of regional infrastructure. In total, Japan has already provided $12 billion in humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine.

Denmark is allocating a new aid package worth more than one billion hryvnias for the restoration of Mykolaiv region, which will be used to support energy security, demining, and economic development of the region.

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US President Donald Trump has extended the state of emergency imposed in 2014 after russia's aggression against Ukraine and related sanctions against russia. These restrictions were introduced in different years – by Barack Obama in 2014, by Trump himself in 2018, and by Joe Biden in 2022. The explanatory note to the document on the extension of sanctions states that “the actions and policies described in these orders continue to pose an extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.” Initially, the sanctions that Trump extended were imposed in response to russia's actions in Ukraine in 2014. In the following years, the restrictions were expanded to cover more and more individuals and organizations involved in supporting russia’s policy in the region. In 2018, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions as part of increasing pressure on moscow, and in 2022, President Biden further expanded the list of sanctions after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As a result of the sanctions imposed by Western countries, more than half of russia's “shadow tanker fleet”, more than 300 vessels, have been sanctioned.

Sweden should be prepared for a potential confrontation with russia. This was stated by Director of Military Intelligence and Security of Sweden Thomas Nilsson. “As soon as the hostilities in Ukraine stop or become less active, we are sure that the russians will return to our country,” he emphasized.

“...Another hybrid attack against Lithuania, which is An attempt to burn military aid for Ukraine in Lithuanian city of Šiauliai,, which included some military equipment, some radar stations, was just another hybrid attack against Lithuania,” Police Chief Arūnas Paulauskas has said that last year a sabotage group tried to set fire to a cargo of military aid for Ukraine, but was successfully detained.

President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs does not support the proposal to allow non-citizens to vote in local government elections. According to the President, only Latvian citizens should have the right to participate in municipal elections. Non-citizens in Latvia are former citizens of the USSR who have never been granted Latvian citizenship. Non-citizens are mostly russian-speaking.

The Joe Biden administration’s farewell sanctions continue to put pressure on the oil and gas sector of russia’s economy. Two more liquefied natural gas plants, “novatek”’s “kriogaz-vysotsk” and gazprom’s “spg-portovaya”, have stopped export shipments.

In February, oil exports from the rf to the Indian market dropped to a two-year low. At the end of the month, oil producers shipped 1.4 million barrels per day to Indian customers, by 14 % less compared to January and almost by a third below the record volumes of the middle of last summer, when India was buying more than 2 million barrels daily. India has replaced russian barrels with supplies from Iraq and Saudi Arabia: the former increased 1.5 times compared to August, or by 400 thousand barrels per day, and the latter – by 100 thousand over the same period (+14 %). Besides, Indian refineries have started buying more oil from Nigeria, Angola, Mexico and Colombia.

Economic problems are growing in russia due to increasing disruptions in the “russian railways”. “russkaya stal”, an association of the largest ferrous metallurgy companies, has appealed to the union of railway transport operators because of the general disruption of production processes that threatens the industry and has “serious economic consequences”. The association cites the restrictions on the acceptance of empty rail wagons imposed by “russian railways” in October as the cause of the possible disruption. Metallurgists complain that such measures complicate logistics and negatively affect production, especially at continuous-cycle enterprises, which can lead to “serious economic consequences”.

The ministry of finance of the rf has published draft amendments to the law on currency control – the transfer of foreign currency payments of state bodies and budgetary institutions under the control of the treasury, scheduled for 2026, is proposed to be postponed to 2028 to increase the transparency and efficiency of such operations. The reason is the sanctions imposed on russia. The risks of redirecting all the “budget currency” to the “one-stop shop” are higher than the potential benefits of consolidating control over foreign currency government payments.

The central bank of the rf expects a significant slowdown in retail loan portfolio growth in all segments, and does not rule out a decline in some.

The sharp decline in lending due to rising interest rates and restrictive measures taken by the central bank has pushed russians towards microfinance organizations that issue loans at rates of up to 292 % per annum. Last year, they lent RUB 1.4 trillion to the population, by 55 % more than in 2023, and their portfolio grew by 41 % to RUB 623 billion. All these figures are record-breaking and far exceed the results of 2023: for example, russians’ debt on microloans then grew by “only” 22 %.

Shares of russian companies and the ruble have been falling on the moscow exchange for the third day in a row amid a new round of talks between russia and the United States, following which neither moscow nor Washington has reported any progress in the dialogue. The moscow exchange index with the accumulated result for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday loses 5 %, or 350 billion rubles in terms of capitalization of the largest russian companies.

Steelmaker “severstal” has threatened to disrupt key investment projects in the region and a contract with China after the Vologda region authorities banned foreigners from working in construction amid a shortage of personnel.

Profits at russian state-owned diamond miner alrosa fell 4.4 times last year to 19.3 billion rubles. Revenues of the world's largest diamond producer decreased by 25.9 % to 239.1 billion rubles. The company’s net debt increased to 107.9 billion rubles from 36.1 billion rubles at the end of 2023.

Italian Barilla, one of the largest foreign suppliers of pasta to russia, will raise prices for its products by 15-30 % starting March 1. The biggest increase will be in selling prices for gluten-free pasta, such as spaghetti, fusilli and penne rigate. They will rise by 30%. Lasagna, fettuccine, tagliatelle and farfalle will become more expensive by 20%, and most Barilla sauces – by 15 %. The Italian company attributed the price change to the weakening of the ruble and a 10 % increase in customs duties starting February 2, 2025.

The French infrastructure holding Vinci S.A. has withdrawn from russian assets related to the construction and maintenance of toll motor roads.

The requirement to switch taxis in russia to locally produced vehicles could result in 100,000 self-employed drivers’ quitting, a shortage of cars in taxi fleets, and a 15 % increase in transportation prices.

Unable to cover the acute shortage of workers, russian authorities are going to allow foreigners to work under one patent in two bordering regions as an exception starting September 1 – this will be available to migrant workers in Moscow and Moscow region, as well as in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region.

Companies in almost all industries complain about the shortage of qualified personnel in russia. But in industry, it is especially acute. According to the institute for economic policy of the rf, companies had not experienced such a serious shortage as they are now for more than a decade. The shortage of personnel is becoming one of the key risks for mining companies, analysts say: “almost any position in the industry is currently in short supply.” Companies need both labor and engineering staff. Some workers, such as heavy equipment drivers, are not available on the market. Current drivers are of pre-retirement age, while young people do not want to learn this profession.

Ingushetia is at the top of the list of russian regions with the lowest average salary (about 40,000); employees in 64 regions of the rf receive more than 50,000, and slightly less in eight other regions.

In 2025, the net profit of the russian banking sector will decrease by 15-20 %.

The price of AI-95 gpetrol in central russia has increased by 1.54% to 55,658 rubles for a ton.

14 russian dairy producers have been caught at producing counterfeit. The producers presented products containing banned transglutaminase, sterols and vegetable fats as natural butter and cheese.

The cost of garbage collection from settlements near moscow has doubled on average, and in some areas it has increased almost fivefold. The rise in price is due to new rules for calculating municipal solid waste removal.

russia is at the bottom of the world ranking of civil and political freedoms, ranking 183rd out of 208 possible, according to Freedom House’s report. The country continues to worsen its position amid the war against Ukraine. russia is now on a par with Bahrain, Uzbekistan, and unrecognized South Ossetia. All of them scored 12 points out of 100. Almost all African countries, with the exception of Libya, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea and Sudan, are also freer than russia. The authors of the report point out that in 2024, russia held “absolutely unfree presidential election” and all power is concentrated in the hands of one man, putin, who “has imprisoned or disqualified his political opponents.” “Relying on loyal security forces, a subordinate judiciary, controlled media, and a parliament composed of the ruling party and pliant opposition factions, the kremlin manipulates elections and suppresses genuine dissent,” the report says.

russian schools and technical colleges are purchasing en mass the equipment and uniforms for the propaganda subject “basics of security and defense of the fatherland” Educational institutions are forced to spend millions of rubles on the purchase of equipment, which they get through paid services or banal collection from students’ parents. Schools across russia have been ordered to equip shooting ranges, purchase training grenades and models of severed limbs.

In russia, three babies were thrown into the trash within two weeks.

The number of requests for psychological support through the russian Red Cross hotline increased by 34 % in 2024. The total number of such calls amounted to 23.3 thousand (17.4 thousand in 2023). People needed support especially badly in August, after the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ entry into Kursk region.

The International Committee of the Red Cross began providing russian prisoners of war in Ukraine with condoms “in case they feel like making love to each other.”

In Krasnodar, a court found “Kama Shipping” guilty of failing to comply with maritime classification documents regulating navigation terms, which could have caused the crash of the “volgoneft-212” tanker in the Kerch Strait on December 15 last year. The penalty is a fine of 30 thousand rubles ($300).

Yakut shaman aleksandr gabyshev, who was on his way to moscow to perform a ritual to “exorcise putin,” will remain undergoing compulsory treatment in a specialized psychiatric hospital. This decision was made by the primorsky regional court. The court also overturned the decision to mitigate the type of compulsory treatment.

Authorities of Vologda region have created a non-profit organization called “Oprichniki”, which will deal with moral education of young people and strengthening of the “all-russian civic identity”.

In the first reading, the Latvian Saeima voted in favor of amendments to the law on tourism that prohibit tourist trips to belarus and russia. The purpose of the amendments is to minimize the risks of possible human rights violations for Latvian citizens and prevent their recruitment.

Authorities of Latvia have extended the visa restrictions for citizens of belarus and russia until December 31, 2026.

“The “critically low level” of exports to the russian federation expected in 2025 was stated in the rb by a specialized interagency working group. belarusian authorities associate particularly strong concerns about exports to russia with the first quarter of this year. Among other things, the risks are caused by “insufficient contracting of the planned volumes of exports of goods”.

Foreign investment in the real sector of the belarusian economy has decreased by 30.9 % over the past five years.

belarusian dictator lukashenko got angry that local potatoes rose in price by 10 % in the first two months of 2025. He demanded that pricing be adjusted and that all those involved be “expelled.”

lukashenko, whose monthly salary is more than half of belarusians’ annual income, advised people to get “a second or third job”. The dictator actually accused people of not working hard enough if they don't have enough money to buy food. He also said goods in belarus are the cheapest  in the world.