International press review

Headline: G7 powers unite against Russia in support of war-torn Ukraine

Audio 05:27

Firefighters work on a bombed building in kyiv, June 26, 2022. © AP / Nariman El-Mofty

By: Véronique Rigolet Follow

4 mins

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While Russia "

brutally hailed

" the June 26 start of the G7 meeting in the Bavarian Alps by "

raining missiles down on Kiev

", says the

New York Times

, the major powers responded with "

a show of 'unity

', displaying their desire '

to hurt Russia

', commented the

Financial Times

.

It is a question of stifling the Russian economy

”, explains

El Pais

for his part by “

reinforcing the pressure of sanctions on Moscow

”, with in particular at the heart of the talks “

the ban on imports of Russian gold and the possible capping of Russian gas prices,

” reports the Spanish daily.

"

While the Russian war machine shows no signs of slowing down

", the G7 thus intends "to

deprive Putin of the income he needs to continue his invasion

", while relieving " 

inflationary pressure

" in the Western camp, notes the

Wall Street Journal

.

To read also: Volodymyr Zelensky urges the G7 to "do the maximum" to stop the war before the end of the year

But it is still necessary "

for the leaders of the G7 to go beyond declarations of intent

", warns

Le Temps

, which underlines "

that the main leaders are politically weakened and that they only have a slim margin of maneuver in their respective countries

".

The question is whether and in what form this sanctions plan will be found in the final declaration tomorrow

,” also comments the

Suddeutsche Zeitung

, which nevertheless believes that an agreement seems “

within reach

”.

Russia embarks its Belarusian ally in its showdown with the West

Just before the strikes on Kiev, Vladimir Putin announced his desire to equip his Belarusian ally "

with nuclear-capable missiles

" in the coming months, reports

Die Welt

which, like Le

Temps

, is concerned "

that Moscow is thus warming up the front Belarusian

” even “

as tension mounts around the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad

”, Lithuania having restricted the transit of goods to this territory, much to the anger of the Kremlin.

Belarusian President Lukashenko also sees it as “

a declaration of war

” and says he is ready to be on the front line “

to defend access to the Russian enclave

”, underlines the Swiss daily.

A "

dangerous escalation

" on European soil with NATO countries, denounces the

New York Times

.

All the more worrying, underlines for its part

Le Soir,

"

that Belarus has also already taken action against Ukraine

", by bombing the Cherniguiv region, north-east of Kiev, last week.

Strikes which suggest that Putin "

has not given up on broader war aims against Ukraine, with a Belarusian ally in ambush

", further comments the Belgian daily.

Ban on abortion: the American shock wave reaches Europe 

While “

demonstrations continue across the United States to express anger against the Supreme Court's decision

”, the “

debate is spreading to Europe

”, explains

Le Soir

.

"

After the presidential majority in France, the Belgian socialists also announced that they would table a constitutional bill to protect access to abortion

".

"

Even if the situation in Belgium has nothing to do with the United States and its powerful Supreme Court

 ", argues a Belgian constitutionalist who believes "

that a majority of the conservative right or the far right should dominate sustainably the entire political landscape to jeopardize the right to abortion

".

"

There is no question of panicking then

," she said, but "

inserting abortion into the Constitution would certainly strengthen women's rights

."

To read also: United States: a Pride march under the sign of concern after the revocation of the right to abortion

Something to also wake up "

the opponents of abortion

", notes for its part

El Pais

which reports "

that at least 25,000 people yesterday demonstrated in the streets of Madrid

 ", including elected conservatives, "

who loudly hailed the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States

", a decision which "

gives them hope

".

Prince Charles allegedly accepted a million euros in cash from a Qatari sheikh

Dismay in the British press, after the

Times

revealed yesterday that Prince Charles “

accepted a suitcase and plastic bags containing one million euros in cash from the former Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Yassin al-Thani

” for the benefit of his charities.

In total, the prince thus collected "

3 million euros in cash

", notes for its part the

Guardian

which underlines "

that there is a priori no suspicion of illegality

" but that this raises "

serious concerns as to to the personal judgment of the future king, especially given Qatar's human rights record

".

"

It is worthy of a South American drug lord, not of a future heir to the British throne

”, lambasted a former minister, while voices were raised in Britain to demand “

a government investigation

".

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