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

“For the first time I heard from the mouths of ​American negotiators, and Mr. Steve Witkoff was unequivocal here, that America would engage in security guarantees for Ukraine in such a way that the russians would have no doubt that the American response would be military if the russians attacked Ukraine again,” said Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk.

“The leaders agreed that ensuring Ukraine’s security, sovereignty, and prosperity is an integral part of broader Euro-Atlantic security. They clearly stated that Ukraine and its people deserve a prosperous, independent, and sovereign future, free from fear of future russian aggression,” reads a joint statement by the leaders of a number of European countries and EU institutions. The statement was signed by Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof, Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf  Kristersson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer, as well as Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa.

Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz has said that, perhaps for the first time since the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, there is a real chance for peace in the war between russia and Ukraine. He proposed that russia arrange a truce for Christmas.

“This is already the 32nd meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. And this is not the first time that people in Ukraine and across Europe have placed their hopes and expectations on a new peace process. Yesterday in Berlin, we reached a common understanding between Europe, Ukraine, and the United States on peace talks and security guarantees for Ukraine. Now it is up to us to maintain this unity and turn it into pressure on russia to force it to the negotiating table,” Minister of Defence of the FRG Boris Pistorius announced at a meeting of the Contact Group (“Ramstein”) about plans to transfer Sidewinder missiles from own stocks to Ukraine to strengthen its air defense.

“Air defence is an absolute priority. So today, I can confirm the USA and the UK’s biggest single-year investment into air defence of Ukraine. That's 600 million pounds,” said UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey.

The European Parliament will resort to the so-called urgency procedure to speed up the adoption of a “reparations loan” to Ukraine if EU leaders agree to use russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine’s benefit.

The German state development bank KfW will stimulate German companies’ investments in Ukraine through a new financial instrument with  initial volume of  EUR 45 million.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency has developed models for financial support for businesses in Ukraine.

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EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has pointed out that the European Union is not currently considering lifting sanctions against russia. On the contrary, it believes pressure on russia should be increased.

“russia’s leadership has made it clear that it wants to challenge, restrict, divide, and eventually destroy NATO. Our allies understand that the risk to NATO and the United Kingdom from russia is growing,” Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom Richard Knighton has warned that his country must better prepare for the potential threat.

Latvia’s Security Service advises its citizens not to travel to russia or belarus during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, warning of high risks of recruitment and provocation in those countries.

The fuel terminal of the russian company “Lukoil” at Chisinau Airport will be confiscated, – said Prime Minister of Moldova Alexandru Munteanu. He specified that all assets of the oil complex, which is under  US sanctions, must be transferred to the ownership of the Republic within 20 days.

russia’s federal budget deficit, which may exceed 5.7 trillion rubles by the end of this year, will remain at least until 2042. This follows from the russian government’s forecast.

moscow will be far from its goal of capturing 20 % of the global liquefied natural gas market by 2030, which it set for itself in hope to monetize its huge gas reserves in the Arctic.

Two-thirds of russia’s GDP growth reported by rosstat this year,  comes from the military-industrial complex, which is working around the clock to produce tanks and bombs for the army fighting in Ukraine. Of the 0.6 % economic growth in the third quarter, 0.4 % were provided by the “public administration and security” sector. The share of the military-industrial complex in the new GDP generated by the economy has almost tripled this year. At the end of last year, it accounted for 1% of the 4.3 % growth.

russia’s spending on research and development (R&D) has fallen to its lowest level in the country’s modern history since the start of the war with Ukraine. Last year, less than 1 % of GDP was allocated to R&D.

In ten months, car production decreased  by 22.2 % in annual terms. In October alone, the decline reached 38.4 %, which is a record low among all industries. The production of trucks and special equipment also declined. The problems in the automotive industry will cause social tension, especially in cities focused on the automotive industry, such as Togliatti, Naberezhnye Chelny, and Nizhny Novgorod.

As of December 1, the  amount of unpaid installments by russians for newly purchased real estate  was 1.5 trillion rubles (17 % of contracts signed).

Yandex.Taxi drivers have gone on strike. The strike has been joined by taxi drivers in Yekaterinburg, Ryazan, Kostroma, Kazan, Izhevsk, Samara, Kirov, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Volgodonsk, Orsk, and Ufa.

“YouTube will be completely blocked in russia in the next six months,” said deputy chairman of the state duma committee on information policy, information technology, and communications Andrey Svintsov.

In 2025, 225 major data leaks from russian companies were recorded. Retail, healthcare, government services, and information technology were most at risk of hacking.

A Boeing 777 aircraft belonging to russian airline Nordwind Airlines interrupted its flight from moscow to Cuba due to an engine fire. That was the second incident involving an engine fire on a russian airline’s aircraft during a flight since the beginning of the month. In 2025, the number of incidents involving russian airlines’ aircraft increased approximately fourfold year-on-year due to sanctions and a lack of spare parts production.

From April 1, 2026, the fsb will be able to freely, without court decision, obtain copies of the databases of any organizations operating in russia.

Patriarch kirill of the russian orthodox church has said that russians should be grateful to God for the country in which they live, for the government and “for everything that russia is doing today”.

Every tenth playground in russia poses a threat to children’s lives due to broken equipment, while some of the facilities are in a state of disrepair.

Against the background of the release of political prisoners, France has called on belarus’ authorities to stop the repression and establish “dialogue with all the strata of society”.

Since russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine until October 2025, the Internal Security Agency of Poland had detained 55 people suspected of working for foreign special services, 11 of whom are belarusian citizens.

Restoring railway link with belarus is impossible due to the security risk to Poles. This was stated by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration of Poland.

In November, sales of MAZ trucks in russia decreased by 39 % year-on-year. Only 266 vehicles from the belarusian manufacturer were purchased in the neighboring country during the month. In January-November, MAZ sold 2,859 vehicles to the rf, which is a failure: last year, 6,406 vehicles were sold, and the year before that – 4,391.