In the spotlight: the “last chance” summit to defuse the Ukrainian crisis?

Audio 05:30

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken gives a press conference in Geneva before meeting with his Russian counterpart on January 21, 2022. AFP - FABRICE COFFRINI

By: Véronique Rigolet Follow

4 mins

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" 

Even if war has never seemed so close

 ," emphasizes

Die Welt

, "

 it is never too late to seek a diplomatic solution

 ." While Russia has already massed more than 100,000 men on the Ukrainian border, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will therefore have to be extremely " 

convincing and firm

 " against his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to defuse the crisis, recalling again " 

the threat of extremely painful sanctions for Russia, in the event of an invasion of Ukraine

 ", notes 

Le Temps

.

Task all the more difficult as "

 Biden's blunder has weakened the American position 

", still believes the Swiss daily like all the international press which from the

Financial Times

to

The

Australian

judge the president's gaffe very severely. American suggesting yesterday "

 that the West might react weaker if Russia launched a 'minor incursion into Ukraine

'". Words very quickly corrected, but which sowed “

 consternation in Ukraine

 ”, notes the

Financial Times

. "

 This stupid remark has further weakened the position of an already disunited alliance

 ", mocks the

Badischen Zeitung for its part.

, the German daily which believes that this could even be "

 considered by Putin as a carte blanche

 ".

 It is difficult (in any case) to see a convincing step forward for this new meeting in Geneva

 ”, comments

Le Temps

while Russia still demands “

 the promise that Ukraine will never join NATO

 ”.

" 

Unacceptable request for the allies"

, explains the

Washington Post

which also reports "

 that in addition to severe economic sanctions

 ", the United States is also preparing to "

 weaken Putin on the battlefield

 ", not by committing American troops , but drastically increasing their military aid to Ukraine to "

 turn a possible Russian incursion into a quagmire similar to the Afghan quagmire

 ".

Former Pope Benedict XVI accused of covering up pedophile priests

"

 Former Pope Benedict XVI did nothing against four priests accused of sexual abuse of children when he was archbishop of Munich

 ", explains

Die Welt

, which recalls that the report commissioned by the German Church on the abuse committed in Munich between 1945 and 2019 had already revealed the existence of at least 497 victims, mainly young children abused by pedophile priests.

And new documents reveal "

 that the pope emeritus does not recognize any error in any of the cases mentioned

 ".

Enough to trigger the anger of a large part of the press, such a denial " 

shakes the credibility of Benedict XVI 

", headlines

Die Welt

while the

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

denounces the "

 lie of the pope

 ", "

 it is a historic shock for the Church

 ”, comments the

Süddeutsche Zeitung

following the example of

La Repubblica

, the Italian daily which underlines for its part the embarrassment of the Vatican which “ 

asks to examine in detail the documents

 ”, before any comment.

Austria, the first European country to impose compulsory vaccination

The Austrian Parliament yesterday gave the green light to compulsory vaccination "by

 a very large majority

 ", explains the

Süddeutsche Zeitung

which welcomes " 

the most ambitious regulations in Europe

 ", while on their side Italy and Greece do not only impose vaccination on " 

their elderly

 ".

And Vienna still intends to go further to convince its population " 

reluctant to the vaccine"

, notes for its part the

Guardian

with the establishment of a " 

Covid lottery

 " which gives people who are vaccinated " 

one chance in three of winning a voucher of 500 euros

 ”.

A " 

vaccine lottery

 ", which will be launched in mid-March next and will cost the government nearly one and a half billion euros.

A miracle man in Tonga

As help finally arrives in Tonga, the story is making the rounds in the international press and social networks, that of a disabled man, a Tongan pensioner " 

who was swept away by the tsunami last Saturday and who stayed 28 hours adrift in the middle of the ocean

 ”, reports

The Age

which renamed the miraculous “ 

the fish man

 ”. His name is Lisala Folau, he says that every time “ 

he was desperate, alone, at sea, he thought of his family”

.

After swimming and drifting for several miles, he finally landed on a neighboring island, his was almost destroyed, still reports the Australian press, which hails an " 

absolutely incredible

 " feat, an " 

impressive survival story

 ", also believes the

Guardian

.

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