October 2, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“We have to make sure that Ukraine survives as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation”, said the new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, emphasizing that our country is “at the top of the list” of his priorities. Rutte also said that he would seek to fulfill the commitments given to Ukraine by the Alliance, in particular regarding financial support and irreversibility of NATO membership.

The United States has signed a $6.9 billion contract with Boeing Corporation to produce small ammunition for deliveries to Ukraine, Japan, and Bulgaria.

Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller has said that Ukraine does not need the USA’s permission to launch retaliatory strikes against targets deep inside russia with Ukrainian-made weapons.

US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink believes that “in cooperation with Europeans and other partners, by the end of the year” it will be possible to unblock a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, which is to be paid from the proceeds from frozen russian assets.

“This war of aggression can end now if russia withdraws its forces immediately, completely, and unconditionally from all Ukrainian territory to its internationally recognized borders, withdraws its claims of annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and respects Ukraine’s sovereign rights as an independent nation…” – on the second anniversary of the illegal “referendums” in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, G7 Foreign Ministers have reaffirmed that they will never recognize the accession of Ukrainian regions to the rf.

Vernon Coaker, Minister of State at the UK Ministry of Defense, has assured that his country will continue to support Ukraine at the necessary level after the change of government, responding to the challenges and threats from russia and allocating the necessary funds and resources.

Minister for European Affairs of France Benjamin Haddad has said that his country does not rule out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine.

Estonia intends to change the structure of military aid to Ukraine, focusing it on products of Estonian companies.

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that the Alliance states should support Ukraine’s Peace Formula.

Leading EU dairy associations have supported Ukrainian dairy products’ duty-free access to the EU market.

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New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that it is necessary to support Ukraine because the investment in this is much less than if it were necessary to fight putin directly.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Baerbock has warned of the risk of disinformation and attempts to influence the elections in the country by russia.

PACE has adopted a resolution on propaganda and freedom of information in Europe, calling for sanctions against russian propagandists and recognizing the russian orthodox church as an instrument of influence.

At a regular meeting, the Lithuanian National Security Committee assessed the risks posed by “hostile activities of the rf and the rb. As a tool to fight them, it is proposed to restrict small-scale border traffic. It is also planned to develop amendments to legislative acts that “will increase responsibility for organizing or complicity in operations against Ukraine, and other possible measures to respond to such actions and intentions”.

Lithuania has denounced agreements with the rf and the rb on the promotion and protection of investments, as well as an agreement with russia on the avoidance of double taxation.

As of September 2024, China's share in the total payments of sellers operating on russian marketplaces decreased to 51.1% from 67.8% last year, according to calculations by “modulbank” in cooperation with the “pro wildberries” center for entrepreneurship development and support. Chinese banks, fearing secondary international sanctions, are cutting back on working with sellers.

The rf’s manufacturing PMI in September was 49.5 points, down from 52.1 points in August, according to a study by S&P Global; the index fell below 50 points for the first time since April 2022. According to analysts, the growth in production costs and self-cost accelerated amid rising prices for transportation and supplier services. The growth rate of selling prices was the highest this year.

The government of the rf has planned to raise utility bills for households. In particular, starting from July 1, 2025, utility tariffs will increase by 11.9% on average, gas tariffs – by 10.3%, and electricity – by 12.6%. From July 1, 2026, utility tariffs will increase by 5.4%, gas tariffs – by 4.3%, and electricity – by 5.2%. From July 1, 2027, utility tariffs will increase by 4.8%, gas tariffs – by 4%, and electricity – by 4%.

In the first half of the year, more than 13 million russians took out three or more loans from financial institutions (2.2 million people were added over 12 months). “They account for more than half of retail loan arrears”, the central bank of the rf has reported. The debt of borrowers with bank loans increased by RUB 852 billion over the year. The number of retail borrowers in banks and microfinance organizations amounted to 50.3 million people (up by 3.6 million over 12 months).

In 2024, only 34.4% of the more than 970,000 russians suffering from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and entitled to benefits received medicines free of charge, – the all-russian patients' union said. The situation for beneficiaries is getting worse every year: 48.5% of patients were provided with medicines in 2023, and 60% in 2021. In total, 31 million people in the rf suffer from CVD, of which 7 million have coronary heart disease, which poses the greatest health risk.

Starting in 2025, the khabarovsk territory of the rf, which borders China, will impose restrictions on migrant labor. “I have repeatedly spoken on the need for a healthy response to the current situation in the migration sphere. The professions that fall under the ban... are directly related to security issues”, said governor demeshin. Foreigners who hold work patents will be banned from working in public transport, taxis, enterprises providing electricity, gas and water supply services, as well as from working for individuals.

Minister of the Interior of Lithuania Agnė Bilotaitė has said that she will submit to the Parliament some amendments to the legislation that will allow border guards to shoot down balloons illegally crossing Lithuania’s airspace with contraband, in particular those coming from the rb and posing a threat to civil aviation and the country's security.

As of the beginning of September, the number of individual entrepreneurs in the rb decreased by 5.5% compared to last year. In the capital city, their number decreased by 12.2%.

In August, belarusian enterprises hired 78.9 thousand people and fired 91.2 thousand. Thus, the number of the fired exceeded the number of the hired by 12.3 thousand people.

The Human Rights Center “Viasna” has stated that since July, 115 political prisoners have been released through pardons in the rb, while 142 other people have acquired the status of political prisoners.