« The confrontation is more and more direct between Biden and Putin “, comments the New York Times, as the Russian president blasted this Tuesday morning, “ the West that threatens the existence of Russia “, in an aggressive speech to which President Biden should respond this afternoon during a “ highly anticipated speech in Warsaw. ” Two speeches and two very different visions of the world “, further argues the Times, « more than 1 200 kilometers away, each will promise in any case to continue the war until the other beats a retreat “. And in this duel, it’s ” Biden who in any case launched the first challenge to the master of the Kremlin with his surprise visit yesterday [20 février, NDLR] in Kyiv to reaffirm its unwavering support for Ukraine », comments The country. « A challenge and a humiliation for Putin “, underlines the Spanish daily which displays on the front page, like almost all of the international press today, the images of the American and Ukrainian presidents in each other’s arms, or even strolling side by side in the streets of Kyiv.
« A very strong symbol in a war zone », greets The Republic. « Images that will go down in history », enthuses The world, who does not hesitate to compare this visit ” to that of Kennedy in Berlin in 1963 ». « No trip in this year of war surpasses the symbolic force of Biden’s visit to Kyiv “, also believes the South German newspaper. While the American press measures the courage and even the nerve of Biden to go to a besieged city despite the risks “, as argued by the Wall Street Journalfor its part the Russian press is ironic, “ on the staging of this visit “, emphasizes the Komsomolskaya Pravda. « With even sound effects like the warning sirens triggered for the show ” while no air raid took place on February 20 in kyiv, assures the Russian daily since “ Biden had warned the Kremlin of his visit » and that a pact of « non-aggression had been agreed ».
A confrontation between the United States and Russia that worries China
China which, while strongly denying the American accusations that it could deliver weapons to Russia, worries ” of an escalating Ukrainian conflict that is even spiraling out of control “, reports the South China Morning Post. And Biden’s visit to kyiv ” risks triggering a more violent response from Russia », dreads the Global Times. The Chinese nationalist daily castigates ” an irrational and selfish visit ».
While the head of Chinese diplomacy Wang Yi is currently in Moscow, the South German newspaperwonders for his part about the springs ” of the peace initiative that China intends to present at the end of the week. ” A peace plan that will have to be examined “, believes in any case the Times, « because he could make any material aid from Beijing to Russia conditional on his willingness to negotiate a way out of the crisis “. China like NATO are determined not to allow a global escalation of the Ukrainian conflict “, further analyzes the British daily.
The participation of Russian athletes in the Paris Olympics still uncertain
While the Ukrainian authorities are still demanding ” the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Olympics, as long as Russia’s war of aggression rages on “, reports the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. On February 20, around thirty countries, including France, Great Britain and the United States, in any case asked the IOC “ clarifications on the neutrality required as a condition for the participation of Russian athletes “, emphasizes the Guardian. The IOC offers a return of Russian athletes under a neutral flag on condition “ that they did not actively support the war in Ukraine ». « A definition of neutrality that lacks clarity “, explains the South China Morning Post which nevertheless notes that none of these signatory countries ” call for a boycott of the Games ».
After Twitter, Facebook announces a new paid subscription service
After promising that Facebook would always be free, Mark Zuckerberg, le patron de Meta which oversees Facebook and Instagram, “ follows rival platform Twitter to charge for account authentication », notes the Guardian who wonders on the possible end of the open access orthodoxy to social networks. ” A switch to paid platforms strongly denounced in the press. Like the Temps who castigates a real disregard for users. […] until now, he says, the services were free because we were the product to be sold to advertisers, now we remain the product but while paying, it is a real double jeopardy “, criticizes the Swiss daily.