June 23, 2022 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called russia's aggression against Ukraine the “most urgent” threat facing the Alliance, noting that in NATO's new Strategic Concept, russia would be called the greatest and most direct threat to the security of the Alliance’s members. The Secretary General of the Alliance spoke about this on June 22 during a round table on the eve of the NATO summit in Madrid. “I expect this summit in Madrid to be a transformation summit, because we are in a crucial period for our security. putin's war against Ukraine is the most urgent threat we face. It has broken the peace in Europe. At the same time, we must not forget about other challenges to our security”, Stoltenberg said.

Among such challenges, he mentioned the increased competition between democracy and totalitarianism, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, cyberattacks and climate change. All these challenges, including russia, will be reflected in NATO's new Strategic Concept. “We will agree on a new Strategic Concept for NATO to provide guidance for action in a new security environment that has undergone radical changes. I expect that the Strategic Concept 2022 will identify russia as the greatest and most direct threat to our security”, said the NATO Secretary General.

In the previous Strategic Concept, adopted in Lisbon in November 2010, russia was mentioned as a “strategic partner” for the Alliance. russia's aggression against Ukraine, which began in 2014 and has now turned into a full-scale war, has radically changed the security situation in Europe and the world.

Speaking in the European Parliament, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen called on leaders to take historic responsibility before the EU summit over the expected decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership. “History is on the march. And I'm not just talking about putin's war of aggression. I am talking about the wind of change that is blowing over our continent again. With their applications, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia tell us that they want change. They want more democracy, more freedoms and stronger reforms. They tell us they want Europe. We have a responsibility to them, but we also have a responsibility to make the right choices”, said von der Leyen.

According to her, how far Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia come and how quickly they proceed will depend first and foremost on their actions and their progress. “But how we respond to their passion and their progress is our choice, and ours only. This Parliament has already spoken, loud and clear. Now the European Council must make a decision and fulfill its historic responsibility”, said the President of the European Commission. “The next chapter in the history of the EU is being written today by the brave people of Ukraine, and by all of us who must all accompany them on the European path. Again, this is Europe’s moment. And we must seize it”, she stressed.

EU leaders in Brussels on June 23-24 will approve a recommendation from the European Commission to grant Ukraine and Moldova candidate status for accession to the European Union.

“The European Council has decided to grant Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova the status of a candidate country”, the draft decision of the EU leaders reads. Further steps towards accession will be considered once all the conditions set out by the European Commission have been fully met. “Each country's progress towards the European Union will depend on its own achievements in meeting the Copenhagen criteria, including the EU's ability to accept new members”, the draft conclusions read.

 

In the European Union, two-thirds of citizens support Ukraine's accession to the Union. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted annually for 15 years. During the period of sociological research, this figure became a record. The survey showed that only one in ten respondents has a positive attitude to russia compared to one in three in 2018. Attitudes to China have also deteriorated, although Europeans have reported a more positive image of the United Kingdom and the United States. Almost 60% consider defending “common European values” a priority, even if it affects prices and the cost of living, which have risen even more since russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Elina Bardram, the European Commission's Executive Director for International Affairs and Climate Finance, said the EU would temporarily return to using coal power plants to make up for shortage of russia's gas. According to her, russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has led to an emergency situation in the EU. “We are witnessing extremely sharp steps by the putin administration to rapidly reduce gas supplies by gazprom and are taking extremely important measures, but they are all temporary”, Bardram said. At the same time, the representative of the European Commission stressed that a temporary return to the use of coal does not mean a waiver of long-term climate obligations.

US President Joe Biden, commenting on the words of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson about the growing fatigue from the war in Ukraine, said that he has no such fears. However, in the future, this war will be a kind of endurance competition for European countries and russia. “I think that at some point all this will turn into a game of anticipation — what the russians will be able to withstand and what Europe will be ready to withstand”, said the head of the White House.

Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio has decided to leave the 5- Star Movement party. Earlier, he criticized its position for undermining the government's efforts to support Ukraine and weaken Rome's position in the European Union. “We had to choose which side of history to be on — on the side of Ukraine, which was attacked, or on the side of the russian aggressor. The positions of some Five Star Movement leaders have weakened our country”, said Luigi Di Maio.

Since the russian invasion of Ukraine, the Italian Financial Guard (Guardia di Finanza) has frozen more than 1.7 billion euros in russian-related assets. This became possible as a result of the inspection of more than 1.1 thousand russian legal entities and individuals involved in the threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine (the European Union’s sanctions lists). “As of May 31, measures have been taken against 14 people, including buildings, vehicles, yachts, planes, land and company shares totaling more than 1.7 billion euros”, the service said in a statement. The Financial Guard of Italy is subordinate to the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Economy and Finance.

The Irish government has frozen € 1.72 billion in russian assets. Most of the frozen assets are the money from funds and companies associated with russian individuals and legal entities that have come under international sanctions.

The United Kingdom has denied visas to members of the russian delegation to attend the regular session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

 President and CEO of the Finnish airline Finnair, Topi Manner, has announced that the updated strategy of Finnair is focused on North America, India and the Middle East. “The company is preparing for a long, up to ten years, ban on flights over russia”, he stressed.

A delegation from the Ministry of Defense of Turkiye held talks in moscow on Wednesday to unblock Ukrainian grain exports by sea. The Ministry of Defense of Turkiye said that an agreement had been reached on holding quadripartite talks with Ukraine and the United Nations. The Turkish side also noted that the talks resulted in the departure of the first Turkish ship – “Azov Concord” – from the port of russian-occupied Mariupol.

Today, the number of international sanctions imposed on russia exceeds 8,000, according to the website Castellum.ai, which monitors the imposed sanctions. Their total number, starting in 2014, is approaching 11 thousand. This is three times more than against Iran, which ranks second among the most sanctioned countries. russian gold could become a new target of EU sanctions. The seventh package of sanctions will be discussed at the summit of EU leaders in Brussels on June 23-24.

As of June 20, 133 sanctions have been imposed to exclude the russian federation and belarus from international sports organizations, deprive their athletes of the opportunity to participate in international competitions, and deprive them of the right to organize and host international competitions on their territory.

In Japan, the Monterosa restaurant chain has launched a Ukrainian menu. Part of the proceeds will be used to help Ukraine because of the full-scale russian invasion.

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russia does not have enough money, so the authorities are looking for additional sources of income. the ministry of finance is going to take away 416 billion rubles from the “sacred cow” – “gazprom”. due to a one-time increase in the tax on mining in 2022. Relevant amendments to the tax code have already been passed by the government commission on draft legislation. The seizure was approved, despite the fact that the russian monopolist was going to pay a record dividend of 20 trillion rubles in 2021, half of which was to be transferred to the state budget.

The provision of family mortgages by russian banks in May decreased by almost a third – to 43 billion rubles from 68 billion rubles. At the same time, the central bank said that the corporate loan portfolio of russian banks in May decreased by 124 billion rubles.

the central bank has recognized the growth of overdue debt: it has reached 537 million rubles and exceeded five times the last year’s figure. Also in the first quarter, “default” debt increased – the debt with a maturity of more than 91 days, exceeding last year's figure ten times. According to market participants, in the second quarter the rate of arrears on planned payments will increase.

The central bank is going to increase the compulsory insurance of civil liability of vehicle owners due to the sharp rise in prices for car parts.

The reduction in imports to russia in monetary terms in 2022 may be 20-30%, said analysts at the credit rating agency akra. At the same time, peskov acknowledged that russia is in an “awkward position” and now it is necessary to compensate for the deficit of 40-45% of imports in a short time.

The first assessments of the state of affairs in industry in June (as of June 21) indicate a deterioration in business activity in the sector. The gaidar institute's industrial optimism Index has reached its lowest level since April 2020. Reasons are deteriorating sales and production plans. “In June, sales disappointed russian industry – the share of estimates “below normal” rose to 37%, which is a 20-month anti-record. Even in March 2022, such estimates were received from only 28% of enterprises”, said the author of the study, emphasizing that such dissatisfaction with sluggish demand is far from crisis peaks (57% in 2020) – but the peak of such estimates today, most likely, is still ahead: “Industry does not plan to increase production in July-August”.

The Association of International Road Carriers estimated the loss of Russian automotive companies as of June 1 due to EU sanctions, which banned them from entering the EU, at 9 billion rubles, with an increase in the future to 330 billion rubles. After the introduction of the fifth package of sanctions against russia and belarus on the European direction, more than 3.1 thousand russian automotive companies had to stop operating. Additional costs of russian participants in foreign economic activity only from April 9 to June 1 amounted to 68 billion rubles and by the end of the year may amount to another 265 billion rubles.

putin's presidential aide levitin has acknowledged that 50% of road machinery, spare parts and equipment in russia are imported.

In sverdlovsk region, a criminal case was opened on fraud with federal money intended for the development of the space industry and the defense industry. An employee of the research institute of mechanical engineering, which is part of the roscosmos structure, is accused of fraud. According to the investigation, he signed documents on the completion of general works by general contractors (kosmosaviaspetsstroy and spetsstroyservis), which were not actually completed. Preliminarily, the amount of losses is estimated at more than 100 million rubles.

rosaviatsia has extended the ban on flights to 11 airports in the southern and central russia until June 30.

This week, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will consider the members' claims against russian air carriers.

In April 2022, Russia had the lowest birth rate since 1943 – 1944, said demographer raksha. “If we take into account only peacetime – this is a record since the end of the 18th century”, said the scientist. According to him, the statistics were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, falling incomes and general uncertainty. According to raksha’s estimates, in the next two years, the birth rate in russia may fall by another 10% and become the lowest in 250 years. At the same time, he expressed his opinion on the number of russian losses after the invasion of Ukraine. “The media report that in some regions, including buryatia, dagestan, udmurtia, every second conscript died, but they are wrong in their calculations”, raksha said. “15-20% of conscripts die. However, it is difficult to guess, because rosstat does not publish statistics on the number of deaths by gender and age groups”, he added.

chairman of the state duma committee for information policy hinshtein proposed to “raise the prestige of the rosguard with the help of computer games”. Two possible options for promoting the rosguard are currently being considered: creation of a new computer tactical team game or creation of additional characters in an existing computer game, including the online caliber shooter (developed by the Cypriot company 1C-777 Limited). However, IT professionals are skeptical of this idea. They deeply doubt that any company, even a russian one, will undertake such a project for the rosguard: “Even an attempt to integrate it into the existing game will instantly lead to sanctions against both the company and specific developers”.

Due to the inability of russians to get to traditional tourist destinations in Europe, the most popular place for their travels is moscow, – informs the website of the association of tour operators of russia. According to the association, the demand for tours to the russian capital “has increased several times compared to last year”, because except for Turkey there is nowhere else to go. The “intourist” pointed out that now in moscow, many rooms have been vacated, which were previously occupied by quotas for foreign guests.