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

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos believes that the first negotiation cluster for Ukraine in the EU accession process could be opened during Cyprus’s EU presidency (until June 30), with the remaining five to follow in July 2026. The European Commissioner has also supported modernizing the accession system itself, particularly the possibility of candidate countries’ gradual integration into the EU system.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has announced that during the informal meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union in Cyprus on May 27–28, there will be a discussion of the EU’s possible negotiations with russia and the demands the EU should make on moscow.

The European Union may adopt the next package of sanctions against russia for its war against Ukraine as early as late June or early July.

The Council of the European Union has imposed sanctions against individuals and legal entities responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories. In particular, the list of entities includes federal government agencies affiliated with the ministry of education of the rf, such as the all-russian children’s centers “orlenok”, “alye parusa” and “smena”.

The UK government has imposed new sanctions on 85 individuals and entities involved in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, as well as on employees of the russian IT company Social Design Agency (SDA), which is involved in kremlin propaganda. Additionally, the British government is allocating £1.2 million to locate and return Ukrainian children.

Canada has announced the expansion of sanctions against russia over its abduction of Ukrainian children and propaganda indoctrination. “Canada strongly condemns russia’s actions and is imposing sanctions on 23 individuals and five entities linked to violations against Ukrainian children,” reads the Canadian government’s statement.

“The fate of Ukrainian children is a test of our values. Deportations and attempts to erase their identity are part of russia’s brutal aggression. Lithuania will support Ukraine not only with words but also with concrete actions, investments, and long-term commitments,” – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys has signed a joint declaration with Ukraine in which Lithuania commits to allocating over EUR 10 million to support initiatives for the return of Ukrainian children.

Over the past four years, the UK Ministry of Defense has spent 16.6 million pounds (approximately EUR 19 million) on Starlink services, including the purchase of Starlink terminals for Ukraine. In total, since russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has received over 50,000 Starlink terminals from Western allies.

Since February 2024, the Belgian depository Euroclear has paid Ukraine approximately EUR 6.6 billion received from frozen russian assets. The next payment, estimated at EUR 1.4 billion, is expected in July.

Sweden has provided Ukraine with specialized equipment for maintaining military airfields.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmér Stenegård has stated that instead of negotiating with russia, Europe should focus on putting pressure on the kremlin. Stenegård has said that Europe must increase pressure on the kremlin because russia “is not really interested in peace”.

“Germany and Ukraine are strategic partners who both benefit from cooperation. This has led to numerous new projects. The focus is on the joint development of state-of-the-art unmanned systems of all ranges, especially in the sphere of deep strike. In this way, we are strengthening the security of our countries,” stated Minister of Defence of the FRG Boris Pistorius.

russia’s president putin is building up the rf’s military capabilities along NATO’s borders and, under certain conditions, may dare to attack the Alliance’s territory; however, credible deterrence can prevent this. This was stated by President of the Federal Academy for Security Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Major General of the Bundeswehr Wolf-Jürgen Stahl, adding that russia remains the greatest threat to security in Europe in the near future.

“The kremlin controls russian organized crime and is increasingly turning to its services to carry out sabotage and assassinations,” the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the FRG reported.

Today’s russia is a “fascist-like society”, stated scientist at the Leibniz Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam Franziska Davies.

According to Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces Karel Řehka, russia poses the greatest threat to the Czech Republic’s security.

russia’s actions are increasingly marked by nervousness, and in some cases even panic and despair, while footage from the May 9 parade in moscow revealed the weakness of the kremlin’s putin. This was stated by State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Jonatan Vseviov.

Hungary’s new government considers it necessary to get rid of energy dependence on russia. As a result, “rosatom” may lose a project in Europe worth nearly $15 billion. The government of Hungary will revise the financing and implementation of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant expansion, stated nominee for Minister of Economy and Energy István Kapitányi.

Mortgages are becoming an increasingly heavy burden for russians: loan terms are getting longer, and many will have to pay them off until old age. Banks have begun to more frequently issue mortgages to borrowers who will be 70–75 years old at the time of the loan’s scheduled repayment. Such individuals account for 19% of all mortgages issued.

Over the past five years, the government of the rf has spent more than 50 billion rubles on the creation and operation of military-patriotic centers, where russian schoolchildren are sent for mandatory military training. With that money, russia could have built 50 schools, 166 swimming pools, 370 sports complexes, and over 3,800 sports fields.

In russia, the planned budget for just one five-year (2025–2030) federal patriotic project “We Are Together” exceeded 421 billion rubles. This is almost 20 times more than was planned for the 2021–2024 four-year project.

In 2025, russian courts sentenced 87,305 women. This is the highest figure since 2018.

In russia, comics have begun to be censored.

In tatarstan, the cattle population has decreased by 4.6% since the beginning of the year.

The International Tennis Federation has confirmed that the International Olympic Committee’s statement on the admission of belarusian athletes to international competitions “does not change the existing ITF position on the disqualification of the tennis federations of belarus and russia, which remains in force”.

In April, more expensive became fresh tomatoes (+13.66%), grapes (+31.5%), suburban bus fares (+29.88%), solid waste management (+23.12%), and international postal items (+20.95%). In addition, housing and communal services rose by 10.23%, gas – by 7.08%, and electricity – by 7.01%.

belstat has published data on inflation in April. Monthly inflation was 0.8%, or by 0.2% higher than in March.

Twice as many people die in belarus than are born. Last year, 54.3 thousand new belarusians were born, while 116.5 thousand people died.