Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

US President Donald Trump has stated that the United States, together with other countries, is ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.

“...The role of the United Kingdom is to support Ukraine on the battlefield and in negotiations, and to prepare, as we have been doing so far, by leading thirty other countries in military planning for a ceasefire and peacekeeping through what we call the Coalition of the Willing,” UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey has assured that his country is ready to send troops to Ukraine if a ceasefire is achieved. The Secretary also stressed that in any negotiations, decisions regarding Ukraine cannot be made without Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy Antonio Tajani believes that the summit in Anchorage will be a turning point and that after this meeting, real negotiations between russia and Ukraine on peace will begin.

The European Union’s Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova has emphasized that Ukraine wants peace, but “not at any price”.

Former US Ambassador to Ukraine and Brookings Institution expert Steven Pifer believes that Ukraine has the right to reject a bad deal with russia, and that its European partners are ready to support it in this.

Washington has announced a new package of restrictive measures against russia just one day before US President Donald Trump’s meeting with putin. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury added russians Pavel Karavatsky, Aleksandr Mira Serda, and Sergei Mendeleev to the SDN list (a list of individuals who are completely isolated from the US financial system). They were accused of having ties to the russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, which, according to US authorities, is involved in circumventing sanctions. The sanctions register also includes russian cryptocurrency companies Indefi, Grinex, Exve, and the Bishkek-registered firm Old Vector. According to the US Department of the Treasury, all these entities are linked to businessman Sergey Mendeleev and a group of companies under the A7 brand. The United States has also offered a reward of up to $6 million for information leading to the arrest of key figures in Garantex’s management.

“...We will not do business (with russia) until we resolve the war,” said US President Donald Trump.

In the first six months of 2025, russian electricity exports to China declined by 60 % year-on-year to 200 million kWh, a historic low (in the first half of 2024, 465 million kWh were supplied, representing a 76 % decline). From 2010 to 2020, russia exported an average of 3 billion kWh of energy to China annually. This sharp reduction in supply is due to a power shortage in the United Energy System of the East and restrictions that make it impossible to resume exports to China to planned levels. In June, electricity imports from the rf amounted to only 14.4 million kWh.

In 2025, Kazakhstan surpassed russia for the first time in terms of GDP per capita among the CIS countries. This indicator in Kazakhstan was $14,770, while in the rf it was $14,260.

Banks reject en mass russians’ applications for loans: at the end of July, the share of loan approvals was only 21.4 %. 75 % to 80 % of applications for car loans and consumer loans are rejected, and despite the existence of preferential programs, about 60 % of mortgage applications are rejected. The reduction of the key rate from 21% to 18 % and the decrease in loan rates did not change the number of approvals.

russian companies have begun to cut and cancel bonuses, as well as switch to part-time employment due to increasing problems in the economy. 20 % of employees have reported a reduction in financial incentives in their companies, and almost one in ten stopped receiving bonuses altogether. Senior managers (27 %), financial sector employees, accountants, retail workers, and administrative staff have been affected the most, with 26 % of respondents in each of these categories reporting bonus cuts.

The combined net profit of leasing companies in the first half of 2025 halved compared to the first half of 2024.

Sovcomflot’s net loss in the first half of 2025 was $435.0 million, compared to a net profit of $323.8 million in the same period of the previous year. The company’s revenue declined by 39.4 %.

The net profit of Sovcombank, one of russia’s systemically important banks, decreased 2.2 times in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year.

One of the largest shipbuilding plants in the Far East, the Khabarovsk Shipbuilding Plant, will lay off 70 % of its employees due to the lack of orders.

Due to sanctions, russia was unable to build two icebreakers worth 18.5 billion rubles. The icebreakers were intended for year-round operation in the Baltic, White, and Barents Seas, as well as in the Arctic Ocean during the summer and autumn. They were scheduled to be delivered to the customer in 2024.

One of the rf’s largest coking coal producers, PJSC “Raspadskaya”, will not pay dividends for the first half of 2025. “Raspadskaya” ended the first half of the year with a net loss of $199 million. The coal company last paid dividends for the third quarter of 2021.

Blocking voice calls on Telegram and WhatsApp will be a challenge for the entire ecosystem of small and medium-sized businesses in the rf.

Fraudsters have become more active on the MAX messenger, for the sake of which the russian authorities are blocking other messengers, allegedly because of fraudsters.

The russian Ministry of Justice has added Reporters Without Borders (RSF – from the French: Reporters Sans Frontières – Transl.) to its list of “undesirable” organizations. Reporters Without Borders is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1985, with its headquarters in Paris. RSF is dedicated to protecting freedom of speech and journalists who are subjected to reprisals or persecution for doing their job. The organization has consultative status with the UN, UNESCO, and the Council of Europe. Since 2002, Reporters Without Borders has published an annual press freedom index. In the 2025 ranking, published in early May, russia dropped nine positions compared to the previous year, ranking 171st out of 180. This was the worst result for russia since the ranking was first compiled.

The Ministry of Education of the rf has prepared new guidelines – primary school teachers will now pay “special attention” to compositions of a “patriotic nature”. This is intended to form children’s “correct” understanding of the fight against “fascism” and that heroic deeds can be performed at any age.

From January to June 2025, sales of apartments in St. Petersburg in the premium and deluxe segments declined 1.5 times. Compared to the first half of 2024, the decline in the number of lots was 54 %, and in terms of area – 61 %. At the same time, construction costs continue to rise faster than inflation. According to experts, this year the cost of construction in the rf will increase by at least 8–10 %.

belarusian authorities are threatening political emigrants with fines for expired passports. At this, it is impossible to renew a belarusian passport abroad: lukashenko’s regime has abolished the relevant consular service, forcing people to return to the country at the risk of criminal prosecution.

In belarus, there was a sharp decline in agricultural production in January–July 2025. The share of agricultural production reached 16.1 billion rubles in all categories of farms, which is by 12.7 % less than last year. Production in agricultural organizations decreased by 11.4 % to 15.6 billion rubles.