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

Minister for European Affairs of Denmark Marie Bjerre has announced that her country is working on a mechanism to advance negotiations with Ukraine on EU accession without opening clusters.

Representatives of the European Union and Ukraine have completed screening meetings on the last negotiating chapter, number 11 – “Agriculture and Rural Development”.

The Council of the European Union has approved recommendations for EU member states on the return, reintegration, and change of official status of Ukrainian refugees in EU countries when conditions allow.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that all options for ending the russian-Ukrainian war must be based on compliance with the UN Charter and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

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The United Kingdom has redeployed its Typhoon fighter jets to Poland and joined NATO’s “Eastern Sentry” mission, launched in response to the massive incursion of russian drones.

“We must do everything in our power to be prepared for war. Because that is the only way to ensure peace,” President of Poland Karol Nawrocki called on NATO to intensify its efforts to build up its defense capabilities.

“I guarantee you that if Europe imposed substantial secondary tariffs on buyers of russian oil, the war would be over in 60 or 90 days,” said US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul has called on the USA to impose anti-russian sanctions that were announced back in the summer.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened Hungary and Slovakia with “consequences” for their buying russian oil.

Estonia is building a 40-kilometer anti-tank trench on the border with russia as part of the expansion of the Baltic defense zone’s border fortifications.

One of Estonia’s parties, Isamaa, has initiated a draft law proposing to close the border with russia.

Western sanctions against russian banks and oil companies have completely removed russia from global oil trading in dollars. The share of the dollar – the key global currency, which accounts for half of all global settlements – in payments for russian oil and oil products has decreased to 5 % from 55 % before the full-scale war. The share of the euro has decreased  to 1  %, although it reached 30 % before the invasion of Ukraine.

russian companies have sharply reduced their investment plans: in 2025, they decided to invest by 733 billion rubles less in their development than in 2024. This was influenced by high key rates, rising borrowing costs, declining demand, staff shortages, and high inflation. “russian Railways” reduced its investment program from 1.3 trillion rubles in 2024 to 890.9 billion this year, Gazprom – from 1.64 trillion to 1.52 trillion rubles, and Norilsk Nickel – from 283 billion to 215 billion rubles. MTS, T-Plus, Cherkizovo, Rusal, Severstal, and others have also cut their investment plans.

The russian academy of sciences has reported a halt in economic growth in the rf. Civilian industries have been stagnating since mid-2023 and have begun to decline this year. Growth in the military-industrial complex is also slowing down. The possibilities for maintaining high rates of budget spending have also been virtually exhausted. Under the current conditions (low oil prices, an “overvalued” ruble, economic stagnation, and high interest rates), maintaining rapid growth in spending is only possible with a budget deficit of more than 5 trillion rubles in 2025. A slowdown in budget spending growth “will inevitably lead to a deterioration in the economic situation in the second half of the year”.

The kremlin continues to take over private businesses: 48.5 % of the largest utility player in Tambov region –Tambov Network Company JSC – has been transferred to state ownership. The company is a regional operator of solid municipal waste management, i.e., responsible for the removal, disposal, and recycling of waste. Besides, it supplies water, heat, and electricity to a number of Tambov municipalities.

In russia, shops are reducing their retail space and narrowing their product range. In the first half of the year, the average retail space of grocery chains decreased by 0.7 % to 312 square meters. In July, the range of food products in retail chains decreased by 2.3 %, and of non-food products – by 1.8 %. The most noticeable decline is in the range of alcoholic beverages and children’s goods – by 5.6 % and 5.1 %, respectively. Among non-food products, the launch of new products decreased in the segment of childcare products by 8.3 % and of personal care products – by 7.3%.

Bank “Saint Petersburg” reported a decline in financial performance for August. The bank’s net profit for the past month decreased by 41 % to 2.6 billion rubles. There was also a 5.3 % decline in net interest income to 5.6 billion rubles.

In September, russian companies’ assessment of changes in lending conditions worsened compared to August due to the strengthening of non-price factors. Companies pointed to longer processing times for loan applications, stricter requirements for borrowers’ financial condition, and other factors contributing to the tightening of non-price conditions. The share of enterprises reporting an easing of lending conditions declined in September. The overall balance of assessments is at the average level for 2021.

State support did not help: AvtoVAZ plans to introduce reduced working hours from September 29 – a four-day working week, which may last until March 28, 2026.

Due to the law on taxi localization, namely the requirement to switch to russian cars, up to 200,000 drivers, or 20 % of the total number of people employed in the sector, may leave the passenger transport market, warned the russian union of industrialists and entrepreneurs.

Housing construction in russia in January–August 2025 decreased by 5.3 % compared to the same period last year. In particular, in August, 7.9 million square meters of housing were commissioned in the country, which is by 14 % less than in August 2024.

The standard of living of russian pensioners lags significantly behind that of workers: the average pension is 23,400 rubles, compared to an average salary of 103,000 rubles.

The state duma committee on international affairs has unanimously recommended denouncing the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its protocols.

Amendments will be made to the russian Criminal Code regarding prison terms for military servicemen who refuse to use weapons in combat, abandon their positions without permission, or engage in actions that result in the transfer of military equipment to the enemy. The draft law has already been supported by the government.

The state duma has warned of the risk of women leaving for China due to visa-free travel. According to official statistics, there are 35 million more men than women in China. At the same time, in russia, the number of women exceeds that of men by approximately 10 million.

Almost a third (29 %) of russians believe that they could be secretly chipped. The largest number of those who think they could be chipped without their knowledge are among those born in 1968-1981 and 1948-1967, 35 % and 32 % respectively. In general, russians have a negative attitude to this technology. First and foremost, they fear surveillance, control, and interference in their private lives (36 %).

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration of Poland has officially confirmed that it will keep the Polish-belarusian border closed after the military exercise in belarus is over.

The growth rate of real incomes of belarusians has slowed down to 10 %.

Industrial production in belarus amounted to 136.6 billion rubles in January-August. It decreased by 0.8 % compared to the same period last year.

In belarus, agricultural production in all categories of farms decreased by 0.7% in January-August.