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

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has stated that in the coming months, the European Union plans to introduce a new package of sanctions against russia, which could be the most extensive since the start of the full-scale invasion. “The pressure must continue to mount until moscow ends its war,” she emphasized.

“Every person killed, maimed, or traumatized by russia deserves uncompromising justice,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna, referring to UN data on civilian casualties in Ukraine. He also called for increased pressure on russia after yet another drone that violated Romania’s airspace was shot down. “At the same time, the threat to NATO will persist as long as russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine. That is why we must maintain strong military, economic, and political support for Ukraine, while simultaneously increasing pressure on russia to make it end its aggressive war and achieve a just and lasting peace,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia emphasized.

Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are working on their own potential format for negotiations to end the russian-Ukrainian war.

Ukraine and Azerbaijan are strengthening their cooperation in the field of law enforcement.

Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk has emphasized that support for Ukraine in the war against russia is directly linked to his country’s security.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has called for the creation of a “European Legion”, which Ukrainian veterans, among others, would be able to join once the war is over.

“We take note of them (the russian threats), but they will not intimidate us – and we will not waver in our support for Ukraine,” said Spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the FRG regarding lavrov’s threats against Ukraine’s allies.

Switzerland will allocate 600,000 Swiss francs (about 730,000 US dollars) to protect and restore the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which was damaged by a russian strike.

The Dutch charity Open Door Ukraine, which is working to rebuild destroyed housing and social infrastructure in Ukraine, has already implemented about 35 projects aimed at helping Ukrainians restore property destroyed by the war.

“Have we lost our minds? We’re allowing visas to be issued to russian military personnel – the very same people who are killing (Ukrainians) on the battlefield,” said Prime Minister of Latvia Andris Kulbergs, criticizing the refusal to impose a complete ban on entry into the EU for participants in the war against Ukraine in the latest sanctions package.

In Lithuania, Seimas Member Arvidas Anušauskas has introduced amendments to the law on the state border and its protection, proposing to limit the transit time through Lithuanian territory for russian citizens to six hours.

The Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority has announced that it has identified defects and violations of “nuclear safety culture” during the construction of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant by the russian state-owned company “rosatom”.

“The government of Germany is examining the legality of the ‘russian house’ in Berlin,” the country’s Foreign Ministry reported. “The authorities are thoroughly reviewing the international legal basis for this institution’s activities ‘in connection with russia’s actions against German organizations engaged in cultural exchange,’” the Ministry stated.

Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg will cease recognizing russian non-biometric (old-style, five-year) passports for travelling abroad as of October 1.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, will restrict transactions with crypto platforms included in the new package of European sanctions against russia.

The USA has expressed support for Tokyo’s position on the sovereignty of the Kuril Islands. This was stated by George Glass, the USA’s Ambassador to Japan.

The shipments of petrol from India, which russia began purchasing in July to cover its domestic fuel shortage, have yet to reach either filling stations or the wholesale market. The Indian petrol is “stuck” at the port of murmansk and has not been unloaded from the tankers because oil companies cannot agree on a selling price. Oil importers are offering to buy the Indian petrol for 150,000 rubles a ton (about 111 rubles a litre), which is twice as high as wholesale prices on the st. petersburg commodity and raw materials exchange, where AI-92 cost 77,600 rubles a ton as of August 13.

The USA has displaced russia from India’s liquefied natural gas market. The USA remained the largest supplier of LNG to India in June, accounting for 21% of all shipments. India rejected russia’s offer to sell LNG subject to US sanctions.

russia’s external debt rose by $6.5 billion, or by 2.1%, to $313.3 billion in the first half of 2026.

russia will not be able to win the competition in a “war of attrition” while Ukraine is supported by the Western world. This was stated by andrey klepach, the chief economist at “vnesheconombank” (web.rf) – a key russian state-owned bank that finances the kremlin’s national projects and holds the status of a “state development corporation”. According to klepach, the costs to the russian economy from sanctions and the Western blockade are rising, losses from Ukrainian strikes on ports, infrastructure, chemical plants, and oil refineries are increasing, while russia is falling further and further behind the rest of the world in technological development.

russian banks have sharply accelerated the closure of their branches: between January and August 2026, financial institutions shut down 1,370 offices. On average, 196 branches ceased operations each month. About 40% of all closures were accounted for by “sberbank”, which has closed nearly 540 branches since the beginning of the year. As a result, the reduction in russia’s overall banking network reached a seven-year high.

In September, russia may face a new wave of fuel shortages due to simultaneous scheduled maintenance at major russian oil refineries and the novopolotsk refinery in belarus.

russian farmers from various regions of the country are complaining en masse that they are unable to sell their harvested crops. Due to the suspension of grain exports through key ports, farmers find themselves on the brink of bankruptcy. Virtually all major ports have suspended shipments of wheat and other crops for export. As a result, producers’ warehouses are overflowing, while sales channels are completely blocked.

In russia, the profitability of rice production for the first quarter of 2026 stood at minus 4.2%, whereas a year earlier this figure was positive at 22.6%. The situation is similar for sugar beets: their profitability fell from last year’s 8.8% to minus 21.8%.

The number of new-home sales transactions in russia in July fell by 7.6% compared to the same period last year, and in cities with a population of over one million – by 9.6%.

Sales of russian semi-trailers fell by 19.2% in the first half of the year.

In russia, the market for logging equipment shrank by 20%.

As of today, 65 regions in russia are already reporting local budget deficits, with some of them reaching 50%.

In at least three regions of the rf, authorities have abandoned plans to index salaries for public sector employees. Due to the growing local budget deficits, regional officials are forced to freeze payments or postpone them.

The price of gas-powered vehicle fuel in orenburg region has risen by nearly 28% over the past month.