French press review

In the spotlight: Putin's war… until the surrender of Ukraine

Audio 04:26

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his televised address, February 21, 2022. © Kremlin

By: Norbert Navarro

4 mins

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The Russian president will go “ 

to the end

 ”, launches “in One”

Le Journal du Dimanche

.

During the exchange by videoconference, yesterday, between the master of the Kremlin and his French and German peers, “ 

those and those

 ” who attended confided to the

JDD

that Vladimir Poutine “

 is clearly no longer in the state of mind of a real negotiation

 .

Translating in its own way,

Le Journal du Dimanche

reports accordingly that " 

Putin has chosen war, negotiating for him means obtaining the capitulation of the enemy 

"!

Kurkov and his gray bees in the war

Precisely, the Ukrainian writer Andreï Kurkov does not say anything else.

He is the most translated Ukrainian writer in the world.

Born in Saint Petersburg to a Russian father and grandson of a Red Army hero, Andrei Kurkov only writes in Russian.

Author of several novels with worldwide success, such as

The Penguin

, Kurkov, in his own way, also fights against Vladimir Putin.

To situate it,

Le Figaro Magazine

considers that the author of The

Penguin

is "

 the worthy descendant of Gogol, who, like him, was Ukrainian but wrote his satires in the Russian language 

".

According to this weekly, " 

one can be slumped in front of BFMTV for entire nights without getting anything out of the Ukrainian mess, while a few pages

of Kurkov's Gray Bees

are enough to humanize this strange, fratricidal conflict that has been suspended for eight years above our heads. exhausted Europeans 

".

 For many Russians, the novelist, who has lived in Ukraine since childhood, is first and foremost a traitor to the homeland,

completes the weekly

Le Point

.

His Russian publisher no longer publishes his books.

He has not set foot in Moscow for ten years and knows that in the event of a Russian military victory he will be a target

 ”.

And yet, his novels paint Ukrainian politics “ 

a picture of compromise, of corruption

”. 

Questioned by

Le Point

, Andrei Kurkov assures that “

 the Russian army has trained in recent years in Syria, Georgia, Chechnya, Armenia, Crimea and Donbass.

It is a mistake to imagine that it will get bogged down.

Putin prepared this war carefully,

he warns,

what is happening today marks a definitive fracture between our two peoples

.

As for the Europeans, they let themselves be drawn into this adventure.

They didn't have the strength to say no to Putin.

And here we are.

Such a waste ! 

“, sighs Andrei Kurkov in

Le Point

.

Butter in the tank

Among the first consequences of this war, soaring prices at the pump.

From April 1, in France, a “ 

fuel discount

” will be granted to households and businesses.

It is the Prime Minister who says it to the

Parisian Sunday

.

From April to the end of July, this discount of 15 euro cents per liter will be granted on all fuels in France.

This means that for every 60 liters you will save 9 euros 

," Jean Castex told Le

Parisien Dimanche

.

Macron escapes, Pécresse picks up

The presidential election in France.

At 28 days from the first round, Emmanuel Macron is increasing his lead over his rivals.

Emmanuel Macron is credited with 30.5% of voting intentions in the Ipsos poll for

Le Parisien Dimanche

, against 16% for Marine Le Pen, 13.5% for Eric Zemmour and 12% for Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Credited with a “skinny” 11%, Valérie Pécresse is in fifth position and “ 

would be sharply eliminated 

” if the election took place next Sunday, underlines

Le Parisien Dimanche

.

The plural and divisible Republic

This week, finally, we learned that Emmanuel Macron would have negotiated with the Corsican executive with a view to supporting the presidential election.

Negotiations between Macron and the Corsican executive

 "?

It is

Le Canard Enchaîné

which reveals them, while the Island of Beauty is strongly shaken by demonstrations following the attack, in prison, of Yvan Colonna, the assassin of the prefect Érignac.

The satirical weekly assures that the autonomist leader Gilles Simeoni, president of the Corsican territorial collectivity, should "

 call to vote Macron in the presidential election, at least in the second round 

", in "

 exchange

 " for more " 

autonomy 

for Corsica and a relaxation of prison terms for Corsican prisoners who murdered the prefect Érignac.

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