Escobar touted the development of the Russian Far East “one of the great economic adventures of the 21st century,” and one which “will profit not only Russia, but a great part of Asia as well.”

“What [Anwar Ibrahim] said about ASEAN and the centrality of ASEAN and the unity in diversity in ASEAN, this is something that resonates with President Putin, with the leadership in the Kremlin, and with the global majority as well, which means the exact opposite of the death of diplomacy perpetrated by the Americans and Europeans,” Escobar said.

“And the Chinese vice prime minister [is] once again telling us about the Chinese concept of the shared destiny of mankind, which once again is unity in diversity, respecting other people's views, the primacy of diplomacy, solving problems in a very civilized way, and of course, economic development for all, which Ibrahim, Putin, China, you know, that's what everybody wants,” Escobar said, referring to Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng’s speech.

“Prime Minister Ibrahim, that was excellent. And what he said, for instance, about the genocide in Gaza was absolutely essential, because this is not only Malaysia's position, Russia's position, this is the position of the global majority.”

"These issues are raised because of the political battle during the elections. But of course, if they have concrete evidence, they can take it up. Otherwise, I take it just as some interesting gossip and news that we enjoy, but not take very seriously," Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told Russian media.

“The main purpose of this particular forum…is to attract especially the Asia Pacific nations to invest or trade more with the Russian Far East,” Azmi said. “So I would say yes, what Mr. Putin said – the future is in Asia, or more specifically, the Asia Pacific.”

“I see BRICS as the best opportunity for small nations like Malaysia to voice their opinion so that any decision that affects us, or affects other smaller nations – that we can participate in voicing our opinion,” Dr. Azmi summed up.

“We firmly believe that we are beginning to see, particularly through the BRICS+ family of countries…[an] alternative to the unipolar system” dominated by the West,” Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, pointing to South Africa’s special role in pushing for the BRICS bloc to open its doors to new members when it hosted the BRICS summit last year.

Commenting on Zimbabwe and Malaysia’s prospects for entry into BRICS+, Mandela stressed that “we would want to expand the representation of Latin America, perhaps with the likes of Cuba, Colombia and Venezuela,” as well.

The US Department of Justice alleges that RT enlisted some of the most prominent conservative bloggers, each with millions of followers in the United States, to meddle in elections and disseminate Russian narratives. As a result, five of my colleagues and I have been slapped with sanctions. The bloggers, naturally, deny everything, but what else can they do?

“We not only defeated the Apartheid regime in South Africa, but we defeated its allies as well. You know that the [UK and the US] supported the Apartheid regime to the hilt. But our friends, through our darkest days in the struggle for liberation, like Russia, China and many others... ensured that they gave full support to our cause to defeat the Western imperialist agenda. And what we are seeing in multipolarity is a continuation of that,” Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and senior South African lawmaker, told Sputnik.

“What is the alternative? The alternative is…to move away from the Western, imperialist hegemony and, the unipolar system and ensure that each country can be able to be equally represented in the international and global community,” Mandela said.

“One of the things that China offers is its ability to really do very strong infrastructure projects that have a deep impact on the economies of the countries they’re working with,” Pauken said, pointing, for example, to China’s “very strong” experience with railroad development.

"I am glad that many NATO countries have given that opportunity, and those that still have restrictions have softened the restrictions so that Ukraine can defend itself," Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Oslo.

"Only the Ukrainians can make the difficult choices that are needed, such as where to deploy their forces and what type of warfare is appropriate in this situation," Stoltenberg said.

“No, the Russians can respond, but they're choosing not to respond,” he said.

“Everyone knows that Russia has the methods, has the means, has the military might, the capabilities to destroy Ukraine completely,” he stressed. “But the difference is Russia is actually voluntarily choosing not to do that, not to exercise its full power.”

“Surprised that US Department hasn’t accused our family kitten of sanctions violations yet. However, I’m sure that the Biden regime will in due time manufacture a similarly bogus pretext for declaring her a threat to American democracy.,” commented Dimitri Simes Jr.

"Ever since the FBI raided my parents’ home last month, they have behaved like cowardly totalitarian thugs. They weren’t able to find anything of informational value, so they resorted instead to stealing paintings, furniture , and religious icons. My parents will not be intimidated by this bandit-like attempt at intimidation," he added.