April 12, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Ukraine and Latvia have signed an Agreement on long-term support and security commitments. In particular, this year Latvia will provide military support to Ukraine in the amount of about EUR 112 million.

Ukraine has received another batch of military aid from Lithuania, including anti-drone systems, generators and folding beds.

Chief of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell has called on EU countries to identify available air defense systems and ammunition as soon as possible and transfer them to Ukraine. MEP and former Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt has proposed to remove the approval of the budget of the European Council from the agenda of the European Parliament until the member states can find seven Patriot systems, which are now urgently needed by Ukraine. 515 MEPs supported the decision, 62 were against.

The European Union has developed a draft framework document on its security commitments to Ukraine.

The heads of government of the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Denmark discussed options for supplying Ukraine with additional air defense equipment. Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte assured that the partners will do “everything in our power” to deliver air defense equipment to Ukraine.

Germany is transferring about 400 electric generators to Ukraine.

“Ukraine simply cannot wait. It needs air defense, ammunition and assistance. Immediately”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg once again called on the Allies to speed up the delivery of military aid to Ukraine. Stoltenberg also stated that Ukraine, as a country defending itself against aggression, has the right to strike at “legitimate military targets” outside its borders. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielus Landsbergis is of the same opinion.

“Don't listen to putin's lies about Ukraine. It is a free democracy that wants to be an independent sovereign country, that wants to be our ally and our friend, and we should be standing by our friends...,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Christopher Cavoli has warned that without the United States’ support to Ukraine, russia's advantage in artillery on the battlefield may increase even more. Cavoli also emphasized that the rf poses a “chronic threat” to the world, and further assistance to Ukraine in repulsing russia’s aggression is of crucial importance.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has said that “both sides are exhausted” in russia's war against Ukraine, and therefore it is necessary to strengthen support for Kyiv.

President of Finland Alexander Stubb has said that during the spring and summer, Western partners should make maximum efforts to support Ukraine, because this is the period when there are risks of russia's successes at the front.

Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico has assured that his country supports Ukraine's aspirations of becoming an EU member state as soon as possible, because “this is a guarantee for the country's prospects, for the country's development, and for peaceful development”.

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has called on the “republicans”' from the US House of Representatives to unite, make a decision on the continuation of military aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and prove that America is a world superpower.

Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida has called on US congressmen to unblock military aid to Ukraine.

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“We are not alarmed by this, but we are ready”, said President of Finland Alexander Stubb regarding russia's plans to increase its military presence near Finland's borders.

“...Due to putin's obsession, putin's russia will continue to be a threat to the security of Europe and the United States for many years to come”, emphasized Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.

The government of Lithuania supports the proposal to extend the ban on rebroadcasting of russian and belarusian television channels as long as the National Security Strategy considers the rf and the rb to be countries that pose a danger and threat to Lithuania.

The rf has topped the global cybercrime rating, created as part of a study by the University of Oxford and the University of New South Wales.

Investments in commercial real estate in russia in the first quarter decreased by 37% compared to the first quarter of 2023, foreign investments decreased to 5%.

The threat of a shortage of petrol in the rf forces the government to consider the option of lowering the quality of petrol from the “euro-5” standard to “euro-3” and lifting the ban on the harmful and banned since 2016 octane-enhancing additive – monomethylaniline. Already, refineries are reducing the production of aromatic hydrocarbons, redirecting straight-line raw materials to petrol plants, which has led to an increase in toluene prices. Petrol lower than the “euro-5” class is dangerous for modern car engines.

The net profit of one of russia's largest producers of pulp and paper products, the “ilim group” company, for 2023 decreased by 20% to 17.4 billion rubles.

The rf’s largest insurance company “rosgosstrakh zhizn” gave up selling to the population investment life insurance policies, the value of which is less than 1.5 million rubles.

Every year in the rf, more than 3 million adults and almost 400,000 children with thyroid diseases require specialized endocrinology care.

In March, consumer inflation in the rf was 7.72% (in February it was 7.69%), rosstat reported.

Over the past two years, the issuance of mortgages to russians with a “high debt risk” has increased one and a half times; in the fourth quarter of 2023, almost every second borrower (45%) received a mortgage on the condition that they would have to spend more than 80% of their income on payments.

According to official statistics from the levada tsentr (54%), rising prices are the most serious problem in russia. The war against Ukraine, the conflict with the West and sanctions are in second place (32%), and the threat of explosions or terrorist attacks is in third place (29%). The main events of the past year, according to russians, were the increase in prices and tariffs, as well as the change in the ruble's exchange rate against the dollar and the euro.

The euro exchange rate in russia has accelerated its growth to 0.26% and is 101.08 rubles, according to trading data at the moscow stock exchange.

In the first two months of 2024, 3.1 million packs of condoms were sold in russian pharmacies. This figure is the lowest in the last five years, according to statistics from market participants. Compared to the same period in 2020, when 4.8 million condom packs were sold, sales fell by 35.4%. In 2021, 3.9 million packs were sold, in 2022 – 3.5 million, and in 2023 – 3 million.

The Ministry of Finance of Poland has explained the reason for the ban on the import to the rb of cars with transit license plates with an engine capacity of more than 1.9 liters. Poland is acting within the framework of the European Union regulation of 2014, which prohibits “deliberate and intentional participation in activities to circumvent sanctions restrictions”. The rb is perceived as a “high-risk country” known for helping to circumvent sanctions.

Large budget-generating enterprises of the rb have serious problems with the shortage of workers. For example, at the beginning of April, ojsc “maz”, the management company of the “belavtomaz” holding, needed 2,589 employees, and “mtz” was looking for more than 2,221 professionals. There are 519 vacancies at the “atlant” plant, and 239 – at the minsk motor plant. The minsk bearing plant needs 600 specialists, the gomselmash plant – 220.

According to belstat, at the beginning of the year, the rb had a population of almost 9 million 156 thousand people. However, experts from the BEROC think tank believe that the population of the rb is now much less than 9 million people, based on the fact that belstat has not been publishing data on migration after the year 2019.