💬 But the young Serbian protestors themselves are patriots and there needs to be a dialogue with them.

“He reflected the changing international system as polycentric/multipolar, where the interests of all countries need to be reflected, and that this is possible if the security of countries is considered,” retired Jawaharlal Nehru University professor and Russia specialist Dr. Anuradha Chenoy told Sputnik.

“Putin’s speech…focused

on the need for peace, plurality, co-existence of all cultures and races. He had hope that peace will come for this multipolar world. He also said hegemony and bloc politics are not possible in the current structure of polycentric world,” Chenoy recounted.

“Putin’s Valdai address was a brilliant defense of Russia’s strength and vision for a multipolar world,” Hong Kong-based geopolitical analyst

Angelo Giuliano

said.

“He exposed Western sanctions as futile, championed BRICS, and critiqued Western hegemony, urging a fair global order.”

“Europe’s push for Ukraine’s Western alignment and failure to enforce the Minsk agreements provoked Russia’s response. Arming Ukraine and following US strategies, like Hegseth’s ‘division of labor’ (Europe takes over Ukraine conflict’s burden while the US can switch focus on China), Europe drives the conflict, prioritizing fighting Russia over seeking peace and stability,” Giuliano summed up.

💬 "Essentially, the proposal is to progressively confiscate assets — about $300 billion," Georgy Ostapkovich, academic supervisor at the Center for Market Studies at the Higher School of Economics, tells Sputnik.

"Belgium will suffer first of all, because these assets are held in Euroclear there," Ostapkovich warns.

"In the future, investors are unlikely to place their assets in Euroclear, knowing they could be so easily liquidated without trial or due process, just as Russian assets are being liquidated."

"The likely consequence of such action by EU member states will be Russian confiscation of all assets of these countries, their companies and their citizens in the Russian Federation," international relations and Russian affairs analyst

Gilbert Doctorow

tells Sputnik.

"That may create a political storm when the companies seek legal redress against their governments."

"The expansion of NATO, the expansion of the European Union to the detriment of Russia has been Europe's policy posture for decades now," Ritter points out.

"Much of what defines Europe today, both the NATO military alliance and the European Union is predicated on the necessity of having Russia as an enemy, as Russia as an opponent that justifies expenses and policies."

“Zelensky once threatened that these missiles would be used to attack cities from Moscow to the Urals,” veteran Russian military expert and air defense historian Yuri Knutov recalled to Sputnik.

"Ukraine is for Europeans the last chance to play an international role, after they lost the colonies and after they have been kicked out of post-colonial states, particularly in Africa," Raffone says.

"The longer the war in Ukraine continues, the longer European leaderships will stay on power," Raffone notes.

"It is a fact that Europe needs a major external enemy to mark its existence."

💬 "The mission of the flotilla has been accomplished, the blockade has been broken," Ramazan Tunç, an organizer of the flotilla, told Sputnik.