The United Kingdom has urged its G7 partners to agree on lowering the price cap on Russian oil, stating that this step is necessary to increase pressure on Putin to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
American senators Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham reminded about their bill proposing new sanctions against Russia and said they have over 80 votes to support it if Moscow fails to take real steps to stop the war.
“Our bill will isolate Russia, turning it into a ‘trade island’ by imposing heavy tariffs on other countries that support its atrocities…” the senators emphasized.
The head of strategic planning for the new German Chancellor’s administration, Torsten Frey, believes Europe must step “out of its comfort zone” and consider much tougher sanctions against Russia, such as banning gas or uranium supplies.
Finland completed construction of the first 35 kilometers of fence on its closed eastern border with Russia.
The head of strategic planning of Finland’s Defense Forces, Major General Sami Nurmi, predicts that Russia will continue to build up forces near its borders even after the war in Ukraine ends.
Spain officially confirmed for the first time Russia’s involvement in numerous fake news and divisive messages spread online after the catastrophic floods in Valencia in autumn 2024.
“...The Baltic may become a place — much like Poland’s eastern border today — of ongoing hybrid confrontation,” said Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who believes incidents involving Russian saboteurs will become more frequent.
Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested after reports of damage to a monument at the Polish military cemetery in the village of Mednoye, Tver region, Russia.
“It should be emphasized that this was not the work of vandals. This was a decision by the Putin-controlled Tver regional prosecutor’s office,” the Polish MFA added, explaining that the action was justified by alleged violations of the law on “honoring the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.”
The MFA called the provocation “not only an attempt to interfere in Poland’s presidential elections but also a typical Russian attempt to rewrite history.”
Official supplies of American processors to Russia sharply declined in 2024. Specifically, Intel chip imports fell by 95% year-on-year, down to 20,000 units from 443,000 in 2023, while AMD imports dropped 81%, to 17,000 units from 94,000 the previous year.
Russian authorities will cut spending on supporting production of new planes and helicopters amid problems with their development and manufacturing. In 2025, 22.4 billion rubles less will be spent under the relevant federal project than previously planned (101.2 billion rubles).
Russia’s proven oil reserves will last only 26 years of extraction, according to Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources, Kozlov.
The average price of onions in Russia rose by 87.2% over the year, and white cabbage by 56.8%.
Russia should consider exempting citizens who violate the law (including committing murder) during the defense of moral values from criminal liability, said Russia’s Minister of Justice, Chuichenko.
Russian propagandist Mardan called for revoking pensions for Russians who do not intend to have children and have no health issues.
“Let’s cancel pensions to hell. If you have children and raise them, then you’ll have something to live on in old age. No? Then you’ll just die,” he said.
The European Parliament voted to impose very high tariffs on fertilizers and certain types of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus to prevent potential threats to EU food security and limit Russia’s spending on the operation against Ukraine. Tariffs on some nitrogen fertilizers will rise over three years from 6.5% to about 100% — a level that will effectively stop trade. An additional 50% tariff will apply to agricultural products.
Georgia introduced a full ban on the export of passenger cars and special machinery by citizens of Russia and Belarus starting May 15. Russian and Belarusian citizens, even if registered in Georgia, cannot engage in re-export at all — neither to these countries nor to any others, according to the statement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ service agency. These new restrictions do not apply to citizens of other countries.
Belarus must “put an end to its long-standing policy of suppressing the opposition and holding dissenters hostage,” said OSCE PA special representative on political prisoners Steve Cohen.
Before the USSR collapsed, there were 12 political prisoners per 1 million people; today, Belarus has over 130.
Since May 2020, 3,940 people have been recognized as political prisoners in Belarus. Of these, 1,189 remain behind bars.
In Belarus, the average pension was raised by 1.33 rubles (36 euro cents).
The admission campaign in Belarus will start only in July, but the State Control Committee (SCC) is already raising alarm over applicants for agricultural universities. There are at least two problems: first, the economy needs more veterinarians, agronomists, and engineers than the universities are ready to accept; second, even this minimum number of students cannot be found. The scale of the problem has become so severe that SCC has asked the Belarusian Council of Ministers for help.
Belarus’s Ministry of Education compiled a list of songs recommended to be played at school graduation parties. The list includes at least three songs written by Anna Seluk — Lukashenko’s daughter-in-law. Moreover, the ministry strongly recommends organizers “fill the start of the musical program with works of a patriotic nature.” In addition to the recommended list, the ministry also created a “blacklist” of 87 bands and artists whose work is considered undesirable at graduations. Among the banned are Verka Serduchka, Bi-2, Animal Jazz, #2Mashi, Nervy, and others.
