Business

Ukraine’s defense industry was born of necessity. Once reliant on foreign arms, it is now producing battle-tested weapons behind some of the war’s biggest breakthroughs. Kyiv is seeking investment to scale production and position itself as a major player in the global arms market.

A historic $215.9 million penalty on GVA Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm specializing in AI, exposes how Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov’s wealth slipped through the cracks of US sanctions. Despite being blacklisted in 2018, his investments, funneled through offshore networks, continued to grow—until the US stepped in.

Talks over a potential thaw in US–Russia business ties and the return of Western firms to the Russian market are growing. But over the past three years, Russia’s business landscape has warped beyond recognition. Today, only Putin’s inner circle can operate with security, while the state’s methods of coercion have become openly aggressive.

One of Russia’s most destructive weapons—the Iskander-M ballistic missile—relies not just on imported parts but also on foreign raw materials used in its fuel. Targeted sanctions on sodium perchlorate (a component of ammonium perchlorate) could cripple the production of the Russian missile that kills civilians and threatens Europe’s security.

As US efforts to broker a ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine gain momentum, whispers of American and European businesses returning to Russia are growing louder. But they seem to ignore one thing: Russia has spent the last three years plundering foreign companies.

Ukraine ranks among the top countries globally for agricultural exports and is a crucial part of global food security. To ensure timely exports and uninterrupted food supply to dozens of countries worldwide, safe passage through the Black Sea is essential.