The finance ministers of the G7 countries agreed to move forward on the issue of introducing a limit on the price of Russian oil. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also supports raising price restrictions on gas imports. Russia, for its part, threatens to stop gas supply to the EU altogether.

Today, the European press is discussing the ongoing energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent attempts to blackmail Europe by cutting off gas and oil supplies. Here are some considerations from European publications on euro topics.

Today, Europe’s press debates the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are some opinions from European publications, presented by euro topics.

IAEA silent on war crimes

Writing on his Facebook page, Dmytro Lubinets, Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, voices his disappointment with the IAEA report:

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“It only mentions the stressful conditions, pressure, and threats faced by staff at the plant, but not the known extrajudicial executions and torture of staff by the Russian military. Even though the IAEA mission has repeatedly stated that it does not want to be used for political discussions, it is vital to recognize that staff safety is not a policy but a basic principle of nuclear safety. And it is unacceptable to remain silent on the war crimes committed by the Russian military, which de facto controls the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, against the staff working there.”

Putin Vows ‘Destruction’ on Ukraine After Kazan Drone Attack
Other Topics of Interest

Putin Vows ‘Destruction’ on Ukraine After Kazan Drone Attack

Putin fumes that Kyiv is hitting back and meting out the same sort of damaging punishment inside Russia as his missiles and drones continue to do in Ukraine.

The regime needs fear and denunciations.

Now there will be a crackdown against pro-Kremlin journalists too, writes journalist Vitaly Portnikov in Krim.Realii:

“An authoritarian regime must destroy its enemies and – more importantly – its supporters. Only then does an atmosphere of fear and denunciation spread in society, which makes people not followers but enslaved people of the authoritarian power. … The Bolsheviks created an atmosphere of terror in society. But they began killing their people a few years after their civil war victoryng. We will surely see many more high-ranking Russian politicians, propagandists, military officers, and scientists in the dock.”

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Agency maintains its neutrality.

We should not expect more from the International Atomic Energy Agency than it can deliver, political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko writes in NV:

“As expected, the IAEA is trying to maintain formal neutrality in this report while admitting at least indirectly that the main risks result from the fact that Russian troops occupy the facility. … All international organizations over which Russia has some influence, including the IAEA, are striving to appear neutral and therefore appealing to both warring parties. As a result, we must not expect anything earth-shattering from the IAEA. … What it can do is continue to monitor the situation at the plant, and if possible, set up a permanent mission there.”

Russia must be forced to make peace.

The sanctions are only a threat to Putin; Der Standard points out:

“Without semiconductors from the West and Taiwan, it will be difficult to re-equip modern missiles, tanks, and targeting devices. … Good news for the EU states and their citizens: weakened Russian combat power means fewer deaths in Ukraine. That was and is the purpose of the EU’s coercive measures. … The fairytale that Europe is waging war against Russia is spreading more and more on social media. … Nothing is more false than this distorted version. Europe doesn’t want war, not economically and certainly not militarily. We want peace. Putin could end the war immediately. But he doesn’t want to. He must be forced to do so.”

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Putin won’t tolerate independent voices.

Independent reporting is becoming increasingly difficult in Russia; Corriere del Ticino points out:

“The judgment against this journalist, who worked for newspapers such as Kommersant and Vedomosti and has been sentenced to 22 years in prison in a trial behind closed doors (so much for transparency), makes this clear. On the same day, another Moscow court declared the operating license of Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper run by Nobel laureate Dmitriy Muratov invalid – an absurd pretext aimed at permanently silencing one of Russia’s few free voices. In this way, Putin can continue to express his dictatorial regime’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ thinking on the causes of the war in Ukraine without fear of being contradicted on the domestic front.”

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