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

“Any future peace agreement must be firmly grounded in international law. It cannot reward aggression, legitimize the use of force to change borders, or leave Ukraine vulnerable to new military threats. Ukraine continues to demonstrate its readiness for peace talks, while russia continues to stall,” reads a joint statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8).

On the fourth anniversary of russia’s full-scale invasion, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “Support for Lasting Peace in Ukraine”.

The G7 countries have reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence.

The US Senate has registered a bipartisan draft resolution reaffirming support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen expects to provide Ukraine with the first defense package from the EUR 90 billion loan in April. “Together with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, we identified a first and priority package. Our goal is to ensure its delivery by Easter. It will include drones and ammunition”, she said.

The EU Council has adopted two legislative acts necessary to prepare a EUR 90 billion loan to Ukraine in 2026-2027.

The government of Canada has announced that it will provide Ukraine with $2 billion Canadian dollars (US$1.4 billion) in military aid for the 2026–2027 fiscal years and more than 400 armored vehicles, including 66 General Dynamics Class 6 light armored vehicles and 383 Roshel Senator armored vehicles. At the same time, Canada will impose sanctions on 21 individuals and 53 organizations, as well as 100 vessels from russia’s “shadow fleet”. Ottawa is also lowering the price cap on russian crude oil from US$47.6 to US$44.1 per barrel.

Estonia will allocate EUR 11 million to purchase American weapons for Ukraine as part of NATO’s PURL initiative.

Lithuania will transfer a batch of missiles for the RBS-70 portable anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine. “These are weapons that Ukraine urgently needs and that will help strengthen its air defense,” said Minister of Defence of Lithuania Robertas Kaunas.

Denmark will invest around EUR 33 million in the comprehensive modernization of one of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s training centres.

The Italian Senate has finally extended its support for Ukraine for the year 2026.

“...Europe must do more, and we must also act faster,” Minister of Defence of Denmark Troels Lund Poulsen commented on the issue of support for Ukraine.

In Lithuania, the Radarom! charity campaign in support of Ukraine has raised EUR 4 million. The funds will be used to purchase robotic defense and medical evacuation systems.

Hamburg (Germany) has donated 20 autonomous power sources to its sister city Kyiv.

In the United Kingdom, the Ukrainian defense plant Ukrspecsystems, which specializes in the production of drones, has begun to operate.

Ukrainian defense cluster Brave1 and the French Defense Innovation Agency (AID) will launch a joint initiative to support defense startups Brave France.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has pointed out that the EU is preparing a new approach to the enlargement methodology which “would allow not only Ukraine but also some other countries to integrate earlier”.

The Netherlands and Finland will boycott the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympics due to the presence of russian and belarusian athletes competing under their flags.

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The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the fourth anniversary of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The resolution mentions belarus. MEPs remind that belarus supplies russia with ammunition and weapons and has allowed russia to use its territory to attack Ukraine. It also mentions that 20,000 to 35,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to russia and belarus. The European Parliament calls for russia and the belarusian regime to be held accountable for the war, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The resolution also calls for sanctions not to be lifted until a peace agreement has been concluded and sustainably implemented, and for sanctions to be strengthened by imposing a ban on the remaining imports from the rb and the rf. MEPs also propose that the EU ban commercial activities with russia and belarus, “with a particular focus on any goods with potential dual use”.

In Lithuania, members of the Seimas have proposed tightening the rules for the purchase of real estate for citizens of belarus and russia. If the initiative is approved by the Seimas, only citizens of those countries with permanent residence permits will be able to purchase real estate in Lithuania. Those who reside in the country on the basis of a temporary residence permit will not be granted this right. Lawmakers have also proposed establishing additional controls for real estate transactions near strategic facilities and military training grounds.

The USA has imposed sanctions on four individuals and three organizations based in russia and the United Arab Emirates for cybercrimes.

On April 15, the European Commission will submit a legal proposal for a permanent ban on russian oil imports.

In 2026, oil and gas revenues will account for less than 20% of russia’s federal budget, – said minister of finance of the rf anton siluanov.

russian and iranian oil producers are offering increasingly larger discounts on their products to Chinese buyers. They are facing difficulties in selling it, and unsold stocks are accumulating on tankers in the open sea. After India reduced its purchases, exporters from russia and iran started a price war for the right to offer the most favorable deal to a limited circle of Chinese buyers. Urals crude oil is selling for about $12 per barrel, cheaper than Brent. A month earlier, the discount was $10. Producers of Iranian Light are offering discounts of $11 per barrel, compared to $8–9 in December.

The volume of unfulfilled or untimely fulfilled obligations of russian issuers at the end of 2025 tripled and reached 58 billion rubles. The high-yield bond segment was hit hardest amid deteriorating macroeconomic conditions and slowing economic growth. Thus, 24 issuers defaulted (technical defaults included). Most of the debt was recorded by “garant-invest” (five issues worth 14.4 billion rubles) and “monopoly” JSC (five issues worth 7.1 billion rubles).

More than 700 out of the 1,430 developers in russia delivered new buildings with a delay in 2025. The region with the longest average delay in the delivery of residential buildings in 2025 was the republic of dagestan (34 months), followed by the khabarovsk territory (about 22 months), vologda (18 months), leningrad and omsk regions (about 14 months each).

“To restore russia’s demographics, it is necessary to turn childbirth into highly paid work. Women with many children should be hired on a budgetary salary and receive benefits,” says russian economist aleksei zubets.

Sales of instant foods in russia fell by 4% in 2025. The decline was driven by the key segment of the category – instant noodles, demand for which fell by 15.9% over the year. The reason for this was that the average cost of a pack of noodles rose by 16% in 2025.

In russia, due to problems with spare parts caused by sanctions, more than a third of the long-haul aircraft needed for flights to the far east and abroad are not in operation. Of the 93 foreign wide-body passenger airliners remaining in the country, fewer than 60 are in service. The rest are either undergoing lengthy maintenance or are idle.

In russia, marketplaces may be subject to a new fee to support “russia’s post”. Delivery operators will be required to transfer 3% of their income from inter-city parcel delivery. According to estimates by the association of digital platforms, the direct costs of this fee for the largest marketplaces alone will exceed 90 billion rubles annually. Experts believe that direct revenue collection will not increase the efficiency of “russia’s post”, but will lead to increased costs for marketplaces and unfair competition.

One of the members of the yakutia parliament has stated that the people of the republic are deprived of their freedom of will – the right to study their native language and dispose of their ancestral lands.

“The main threats to russian internet users are artificial intelligence and Satanism”, said the state duma.

In belarus, utility prices will increase starting March 1. Gas prices will rise by 7.07%, electricity tariffs – by 7%, and heating – by 7.3%. Liquefied gas in cylinders will also become more expensive: the cost of one cylinder will increase by 1.7 rubles.

belarusian trade organizations reduced their net profit in 2025 amid price regulation, while the number of unprofitable enterprises increased by 43.5%. Net trade profit decreased by 6.4%. Trade organizations’ accounts payable increased by 43% during the year.

In 2025, “belarusneft-sibir” received approximately 115 lawsuits for debt recovery totaling $10 million. Of those, 85 were lost and 25 are pending.

Second-hand clothing accounts for more than a third of the clothing market in the rb. Imports of used clothing into the country amount to $70-90 million per year.