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

Sweden has allocated a new $2.7 billion aid package to Ukraine: $400 million will go to drone production, and over $2 billion – to Gripen fighter jets. “Ukraine has clearly identified Gripen as the priority choice for its Air Force in the long term and intends to acquire the newest version, Gripen E… We are delivering 16 of these Gripen C/D models to Ukraine,”, said Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson. According to him, delivery will take place in early 2027. He also announced plans to sell 20 units of the latest aircraft version to our country.

Ukraine will receive a tranche of nearly EUR 2.8 billion under the EU’s Ukraine Facility support mechanism.

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted a law ratifying the Loan Agreement in Support of Ukraine between Ukraine as the borrower, the National Bank of Ukraine as the borrower’s agent, and the European Union, represented by the European Commission as the lender. The Loan Agreement specifies the detailed technical, financial, and procedural aspects of raising funds within a total amount of up to EUR 90 billion, their allocation to budgetary and defense components, as well as the loan repayment mechanism (exclusively through reparations from the rf).

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted a law ratifying the Grant Agreement between Ukraine and France on supporting critical infrastructure and priority sectors of Ukraine’s economy. The ratification of the Agreement will create the legal basis for securing EUR 71 million in grant funding, which will be allocated to recovery efforts in sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, water supply, wastewater management and irrigation, waste management, mine action, housing construction, and digital technologies.

European Commission Spokesperson Balázs Újvári has stated that Ukraine may receive a total of EUR 9.1 billion in financial assistance from the EU in June.

The main priorities ahead of the next Ramstein meeting are: additional contributions to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism and the purchase of PAC-3 missiles through JUMPSTART; the supply of extended-range artillery ammunition under the Czech Initiative; and financing Ukrainian drone production.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has pointed out that Europe must clearly define a list of demands for russia before selecting a negotiator.

“We must not rush to the negotiating table and allow russia to dictate the terms. Instead, we must increase pressure on russia and strengthen our support for Ukraine, and change their calculations – so that they genuinely want negotiations and want to agree on peace,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmér Stenergård.

“The first principle is territorial integrity… The second is Ukraine’s sovereignty. This includes the EU enlargement process, the question of its future NATO membership, and security guarantees,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna, outlining the key principles for potential negotiations with russia. “Regarding security guarantees – this should not only be about security guarantees for Ukraine, but also Ukraine’s security guarantees for Europe. After all, to tell the truth, Ukraine is currently the greatest military power in our region,” he emphasized.

“We must open all six clusters in June. We have no right to wait any longer,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys on the prospects for negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney has stated that his country “is one of the solutions” for ensuring the energy security of Europe and Asia, and that in the future, its liquefied natural gas will replace russian LNG on the market.

“In recent days and weeks, we have heard direct threats from russia against the Baltic states and others. And we see no other way to strengthen our policy except by imposing more sanctions and exerting greater economic pressure,” said Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Artems Uršulskis.

The USA’s Embassy in Kyiv has stated that it is operating as usual, and reports of any changes in its activities are false.

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“We know very well what russia thinks of countries that provide aid to Ukraine, and this does not surprise us. The same goes for what they think of countries that take action against russia’s ‘shadow fleet,’ for example, in the Baltic Sea or other waters. We are quite well informed about this,” Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson has stated that he is not afraid of a possible reaction from russia to the transfer of Gripen fighters to Ukraine.

In May, the Latvian National Armed Forces began installing the first anti-tank barriers, known as “dragon’s teeth”, in areas along the Latvian-russian border.

The Financial Intelligence Unit of the Netherlands has conducted a large-scale operation to dismantle the infrastructure used by russian hackers for cyberattacks in Europe. During the operation, law enforcement raided two data centers in the country and seized approximately 800 servers.

“He (putin) has a way out: he can withdraw his troops. It is not the West’s job to give him a way out of the mess he created and with which he has caused so much damage. I believe that the West must now be committed to helping Ukraine defeat russia, which means a return to the 1991 borders,” says former Commander of US Army Europe Ben Hodges.

The russian tanker “universal”, which was carrying approximately 242,000 barrels of diesel fuel, was unable to deliver the fuel to Cuba. The vessel drifted in the region for several weeks, then changed course and sailed away from the island toward South America.

Coal production in russia from January to April 2026 totaled 140 million tons, which is  by 5% less than during the same period last year. Production of all types of bituminous coal fell by 5.4% to 107 million tons, while anthracite production fell by 15% to 6.5 million tons.

The russian banking sector’s profit in April amounted to 348 billion rubles, which is by 22% less than in March. According to preliminary data, household mortgage debt increased by 0.4%.

russia loses up to 7 million tons of grain annually due to pests in grain stocks. Pests, particularly the grain weevil, also affect wheat seed germination. Germination losses can reach 90%. One of the reasons – a significant portion of the grain elevators where grain is stored were built during the soviet era.

The oilseed processing market in russia is shifting from a phase of capacity expansion to a battle for efficiency, as the reserves of economic resilience accumulated by oil mills over the past years have been exhausted. “As a result, they are now fighting for fractions of a percentage point in margins,” said head of the oil and fat union mikhail maltsev.

The electronics manufacturer “npo critical information systems”,  a subsidiary of “rosatom” that ended the last fiscal year with a net loss of approximately 465 billion rubles, does not expect to generate sufficient profits to cover its accumulated losses until 2031.

The number of hostels in moscow decreased by 22.5% between April 2025 and April 2026, totaling 707 establishments. Another 60 or so establishments are in a difficult situation and may close in the near future.

On May 27, “beltelecom” suspended broadcasting of seven TV channels at once. Among them were a television travel guide to russia, a 24-hour history channel, and “In the World of Animals”.

Anti-protest training took place in mogilev. During the exercise, belarusian security forces simulated arrests in courtyards and the stopping of a bus “carrying extremist citizens”.  Earlier, lukashenko stated that “if anyone tries to repeat 2020, the response will be the harshest”.