Olga and Tara welcome Fyodor Lukyanov, Program Director of the Valdai International Discussion Club — for a deep-dive perspective on the escalation between Russia and Europe, why both Kiev and Moscow believe they can win the war, and how the West’s ideological habits distort the actual politician President Putin is.

Is Europe using Russia as a convenient political foe to unify domestic populations and mask internal economic and social struggles? Why does Fyodor Lukyanov argue that current Western diplomatic approaches are built on a non-starter premise? And how has centuries of European distrust shaped today’s military-political crisis?

Are Trump’s assessments of the conflict overly simplified and missing the root causes that date back to the 1980s? Is a military breakthrough in the Russia-Ukraine conflict still possible? And what makes the Western belief in a potential Russian collapse a dangerous historical misconception?

Why is Western demonization completely distorting the reality of Vladimir Putin’s political profile? Why does Fyodor Lukyanov call him the most pro-Western leader in the history of Russia, even if ‘at the first stage’? And why does Putin remain genuinely committed to finding inclusive solutions even when Europe repeatedly rejects them?

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