Eurotopics.net

Government representatives have convened in Montreal for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), which ends on 19 December. Commentators observe with concern that the meetings to promote species conservation are receiving less attention than the climate conferences, the most recent of which was COP27 in Egypt.

The EU and G7 states introduced a price cap of 60 dollars (57 euros) per barrel for Russian oil on Monday. In conjunction with the partial embargo on oil imports to the EU, the measure is aimed at making it more difficult for Russia to finance its war against Ukraine. A spokesman for the Kremlin said his country had prepared for this eventuality. The press is at odds over the effectiveness of this strategy.

Latvia has withdrawn the broadcasting licence of Russian TV station Dozhd, which had moved from Russia to Riga, on the grounds that it is endangering national security. Dozhd, which has so far been considered critical of the Kremlin, had presented a map showing Crimea as part of Russia, and in a live broadcast news moderator Alexey Korestelev expressed his hope that the station had been able to help Russian soldiers with equipment. Dozhd fired Korostelev and apologised - but to no effect.