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

In its resolution “On the EU Position on the Proposed (Peace) Plan and EU Engagement Towards a Just and Lasting Peace for Ukraine”, the European Parliament called on the EU and its member states to “show leadership at this crucial geopolitical moment”. MEPs stressed that EU anti-russian sanctions can only be lifted after a peace agreement with Ukraine has been fully agreed and implemented. The resolution also stresses that those guilty of crimes of aggression and war crimes committed by russia and its allies must be punished, and russia must compensate Ukraine for all the damage it has caused.

“We must now be ready to help Ukraine achieve a just and lasting peace. We can contribute in areas where it can have the greatest impact. Although we are not at the negotiating table, our actions will be vital in many of the areas mentioned in the proposed plan,” said Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset.

“The European Union itself will make a significant contribution to security guarantees by providing funding, conducting training, and supporting the defense industry. We are working on these details now, including the continuation of our current missions in Ukraine,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

“Next year, we will allocate EUR 15 million (to the Drone Coalition) to ensure sufficient capacity and to ensure that the latest scientific and innovative research is implemented on the battlefield and enables Ukraine to defend itself,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Baiba Braže. The country also provided additional EUR 125,000 for the restoration of Ukraine’s energy system and its stabilization.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys has said that if during peace talks russia is allowed to redraw Ukraine’s borders even minimally, the aggressor will sooner or later do the same with Lithuania’s territory. According to him, Europe has three very clear levers in the peace negotiations in Ukraine, which it must use: blocked russian assets, Ukraine’s membership in the EU, and creation of the Special Tribunal.

Lithuania has officially notified the Council of Europe of its intention to join the Special Tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna believes that a realistic peace plan for Ukraine consists of only two points: pressure on russia and support for our country.

Minister of Defence of Finland Antti Häkkinen has said that his country will join the Maritime Coalition, which is working to strengthen the Ukrainian Navy.

“...We decide our own future. And there must be no fake peace for Ukraine. No peace that amounts to capitulation,” said Minister of Defence of the FRG Boris Pistorius.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that russia has no right to veto Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance.

Ukraine and the IMF have reached staff-level agreements on a new four-year support program worth over $8 billion.

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“If we want to prevent this war from continuing, then we should curb the army of russia and also their military budget,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

The EU’s Sanctions Envoy David O’Sullivan has stressed that sanctions pressure on russia will continue as long as the war lasts.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard believes that the European Union should increase sanctions pressure on russia to force it to make peace. “We want the EU to continue working on the 20th package of sanctions. It should hit russia’s energy revenues even harder. We can increase the cost of putin’s war,” she said.

The government of Latvia is considering the complete dismantling of sections of the railway line leading to russia. The decision is expected to be made in early 2026.

Latvia’s Ministry of Transport is also developing a draft government decree to suspend regular bus services with the aggressor states – russia and belarus.

The Parliament of Moldova has approved in the second reading a draft law which paves the way for the closure of the russian cultural center in Chisinau.

The government of Romania has prepared a draft decree to create a mechanism for special management in companies that may be subject to international sanctions, including russia’s “Lukoil”.

russia’s international reserves decreased by $5.0 billion within a week.

The accumulated net financial result (profit minus loss) of the rf’s organizations in January-September 2025 decreased by 7.7 % year-on-year.

In russia, the level of problem debt (restructured contracts, contracts that have not been serviced for more than 90 days, and unsettled debt under terminated contracts) in the leasing portfolio increased by 5.2 % – to 11.7 % from the beginning of the year to October 1, 2025.

Losses of russian companies rose sharply in 2025: from January to September, the aggregate figure increased by almost a quarter year-on-year and reached RUB 6.52 trillion. A total of 18,400 companies reported losses, which is by 11 % more than in the same period last year.

In 2025, russian businesses faced a sharp increase in non-payments by state-owned companies under contracts concluded within the framework of public procurement. Since the beginning of 2025, 1,173 administrative cases have been initiated for non-payment within the framework of public procurement, which is by 20 % more than in the whole of last year (980). The number of complaints from small businesses about non-payments by state-owned companies jumped 2.5 times: last year, there were 200 complaints totaling 1.5 billion rubles, while in the current year alone, there have already been 482 complaints totaling 3.6 billion rubles.

The share of loss-making coal enterprises in russia continued to grow in January–September 2025, having increased to 68.1 % from 52 % in the same period of the previous year. The coal industry’s net loss for the first nine months of this year amounted to 309.2 billion rubles, having increased by 46 billion rubles over the month.

Food prices in the rf have risen by 7.97% year-on-year. Cucumbers have risen in price by 24.07 % since the beginning of the month, and tomatoes – by 8.54 % in November. Petrol has risen by 13.26 % over the year.

Passenger car production in russia declined by 46.7 % in October 2025.

Against the background of falling sales, russia’s largest car manufacturer, AvtoVAZ, is preparing to halve production and cut workers’ wages by approximately the same amount. The company will operate in this mode until at least mid-2026. The plant will introduce one shift instead of three, and salaries may fall from the current 70,000 to 40,000 rubles per month.

A crisis is expected in the russian secondary polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market due to competition from imports. In 2025, the market will shrink by 30-40 %.

russian citizens are switching to economy mode en masse, cutting back on food spending due to inflation, which, according to consumers, is several times higher than the official figures from rosstat. The food price index decreased almost fivefold between April and November. While spendings on food rose by 15 % year-on-year in the spring, they are now only up by 3.5 %. In real terms, taking into account inflation, which rosstat estimates at 7 %, spendings on food have begun to decline by 3.5 % year-on-year. According to official estimates, since the start of the full-scale war, prices in russia have risen by about 40 %. But in reality, the average weekly grocery bill has at least doubled in recent years. Although, according to the Central Bank of the rf, since the start of the war, two-thirds of russians have seen their real incomes increase, and every fifth citizen of the rf  has seen them increase 1.5 times, the proportion of citizens who do not have enough money for food has not decreased in surveys – 31 %. In response, retail chains are forced to close supermarkets, a symbol of the prosperity of the “fat years”, and switch to “shops for the poor” – hard discounters, whose share in the russian market has exceeded 60 %.

The fsb of the rf  will expand its powers to access russians’ financial information and will be able to send requests to the Central Credit History Catalog, credit history bureaus, securities registry operators, and even the Central Bank.

The ministry of internal affairs of the rf cannot cope with the staff shortage, which has almost doubled since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. Currently, more than 172 thousand vacancies remain unfilled in the internal affairs bodies, compared to 90 thousand in 2022. There is a particularly acute shortage of district police officers: in some regions, the shortage reaches 66 %. The patrol–guard service is understaffed by 31 %, drug control – by almost 25 %, criminal investigation – by 24 %, and preliminary investigation bodies – by 22 %.

Blocking WhatsApp in russia is “only a matter of time”, said member of the state duma committee on information policy Anton Nemkin.

Following russian regions, where internet shutdowns have been tested for several months with a transition to “white lists” of sites allowed by the authorities, residents of moscow have also begun to experience massive problems with access to the network.

Belgorod and Rostov regions have introduced a “white list” internet regime, under which users can only access state-approved resources.

Members of the Transbaikal Territory legislative assembly have decided to increase transport tax rates by an average of 20 %.

Prime Minister of Lithuania Inga Ruginienė has suggested that Lithuania may denounce the legal assistance agreement with belarus. She has also said that discussions are underway with the Minister of Justice on how Lithuania could initiate legal proceedings on its part due to the rb’s actions, which pose a threat to aviation safety and human life.

Germany stands with the belarusian people, civil society, and the “community of exiles”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul. “They can count on us in their struggle for freedom. The pressure on lukashenko will continue. All political prisoners must be released”.

As of early November 2025, there were 7,800 IT specialists in belarus. Four years ago, there were 14,400, almost twice as many.