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

Chancellor of the FRG Friedrich Merz has announced EUR 170 million in emergency military aid to Ukraine. His country is also providing additional EUR 32 million through the KfW banking group to restore Ukraine’s energy sector. In 2026, Germany will increase its aid to Ukraine to EUR 11.5 billion.

“We, the United Kingdom, are ready to provide financial support (to Ukraine) together with the EU based on the value of (russia’s) frozen assets. This is the best way to show putin that he should negotiate rather than try to wait us out. And this is the best way for us to be ready to support Ukraine in war or peace,” said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The leaders of France, the United Kingdom, and Germany emphasized in a joint statement that the Coalition of the Willing supports efforts to establish lasting peace in Ukraine, which will be backed by reliable security guarantees that are planned to be worked out in the near future. “A swift decision-making to secure long-term financing for Ukraine, including through the use of the full value of immobilized russian sovereign assets, will be critically important,” reads the statement.

In a potential agreement on establishing peace in Ukraine, the European Union has five main priorities: a just and lasting peace, Ukraine’s sovereignty, financial support for Ukraine, active participation by Ukraine, the EU, and NATO in peace talks, and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by russia.

Following the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, President of the European Council António Costa assured Ukraine of the European Union’s continued support.

“russia’s game rules haven’t changed – from the very beginning it believed it could “outlast” Ukraine, Europe, and all its allies. And that’s why every time serious progress is made in negotiations that could lead to real peace, violence and escalation begin. This is a pattern,” said President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. She also named security guarantees for Ukraine – no restrictions on the Ukrainian Army, unconditional respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and ensuring the financial stability of the Ukrainian state in 2026–2027, in particular through the use of russian assets, as key priorities on the path to peace. Ursula von der Leyen called on Ukraine’s partner countries to keep up the pressure on russia to force it to make peace.

“We will finalize the decision in the coming days, coordinating it with all the most involved European countries, as well as with the European Union and the European Commission. The decision should provide funding, give Ukraine predictability, but at the same time maintain pressure,” said President of France Emmanuel Macron. According to him, in the coming days, the Coalition of the Willing will move forward in two directions: the use of frozen russian assets and the development of security guarantees for Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron also gave an optimistic assessment of the prospects for achieving peace in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte gave a positive assessment of the results of the negotiations in Geneva, but stressed that the end of the war in Ukraine is still far off and much remains to be done. He also said that the total amount of military aid to Ukraine under the PURL program may reach $5 billion by the end of the year.

The European Commission is ready to present a legal text on providing Ukraine with “reparations loans” based on frozen russian assets.

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez has announced a “decisive stage” in achieving a just and lasting peace in russia’s war against Ukraine.

Ukraine and NATO have launched their first joint program on innovation, technology, and engineering, called “UNITE – Brave NATO”. Teams from NATO member states and Ukraine will be eligible for joint grants totaling EUR 10 million. Following a successful pilot competition, NATO and Ukraine are ready to increase funding to EUR 50 million for “UNITE – Brave NATO” for 2026.

Ukraine has been elected to the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, while russia has failed to win a seat.

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Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz has said in a speech to the Bundestag that putin must realize that he has no chance of winning the war against Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Johann Wadephul has pointed out that German intelligence is convinced that russia is creating opportunities to start a war against NATO by 2029.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for russian oil and gas to be pushed out of global markets.

Serbia and Bulgaria are preparing to nationalize russian oil refineries.

Over the past five years, the number of russian citizens in Estonia has decreased by 10 %.

In November, supplies of russian petrochemical raw materials to key Asian countries decreased by 57-80 % after the US  had imposed sanctions on “Rosneft” and “Lukoil”. Oil shipments to India decreased by 57 % to 60,000 tons, to China – by 73.3 % to 54,000 tons, and to Taiwan – by 79.6 % to 37,000 tons.

The second VAT increase in seven years, which will put russia among the world leaders in terms of this tax, promises to hit russian consumers’ wallets for hundreds of billions of rubles, a third of whom already admit to not having enough money for food. The fiscal effect of raising the VAT rate to 22 % in 2026 may amount to about 1.4 trillion rubles from domestic VAT and up to 460 billion rubles from VAT on imports. Citizens will have to pay 1.23 trillion rubles out of their own pockets in the form of increased prices for all goods and services in the country.

In January–September 2025, tax debts of businesses and russians increased almost one and a half times per year: from 311 to 443 billion rubles. This year, utility rates were indexed by an average of 11.9 %. The government has included their indexation by approximately 30 % in the budget for the next three years.

The rf’s import substitution program in the field of electronic engineering is in danger of failing due to a lack of funds. There is a shortfall of 33.1 billion rubles for its implementation.

The volume of proposed and approved dividends of russian issuers based on the results of the third quarter and nine months of 2025 will half. The number of companies that announced payments also decreased – 23 compared to 28 a year earlier. Oil and gas companies made the main contribution to the reduction.

In 2026, tariffs for housing and communal services in the rf will be increased twice: on January 1 and on October 1. Tariffs will increase throughout the country. Starting in October, indexation will be carried out by regions, and its value will vary from region to region. The largest increase in tariffs is expected in the Stavropol Territory, where tariffs will rise by 22 %. In Dagestan, the increase will be 19.7 %, in Tambov region – 17.5 %, in Tyumen region – 17.2 %, and in the Republic of North Ossetia – 16.3 %.

“russia’s Railways” has a huge debt, which reached 3.3 trillion rubles at the end of the first half of the year and right now is 4 trillion rubles. Due to the increase in interest rates, the company will have to pay 686 billion rubles in loan servicing to banks this year.

The moscow Exchange’s net profit decreased by 25 % in the third quarter.

The amount of voluntary donations for rituals and ceremonies in russian churches has increased by almost 40 % since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. Baptisms, weddings, and funerals have become the most expensive.

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda believes that belarus is trying to artificially exacerbate the issue of weather balloons and trucks and raise it to the political level. According to him, “these are technical issues that can be fully resolved by the border services of both sides.”

The deficit in foreign trade in goods and services in the rb grew to $840.8 million in September.