💬 “France and Britain will ultimately abandon this provocative idea altogether. We also expect that the United States, for its part, will take the necessary measures to pressure Macron and Starmer to prevent such a scenario,” military analyst Igor Korotchenko tells Sputnik.

“This is expanding. And [considering] the desperation of Macron and Starmer, I could see them easily doing this,” he speculates.

“They are not looking for an off-ramp. They're looking to crush and destroy Russia,” he says.

💬 "A growing number of members of the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' had privately admitted that their contributions to the mission depended on permission from the Russian president," The Telegraph reports, citing sources.

💬 "Western elites are cynically turning Europe into a testing ground for nuclear disaster, ignoring that triggering such a scenario would automatically activate strategic deterrence doctrines and guarantee the destruction of the threat’s source," Stepanov says.

💬 "The exposure of [the UK and France’s] intentions and the launch of organizational planning to deliver [nuclear] munitions to [Ukraine] clearly signal a political decision to push the escalation into an uncontrollable phase," warns the pundit.

💬 "If the situation escalates into a direct NATO–Russia conflict, Europe — with its dense infrastructure and major urban centers — would no longer exist as we know it," Stepanov concludes.

💬 "China has consistently adhered to the position that nuclear weapons must not be used, and that the nuclear non-proliferation regime, relevant conventions, and the principle of preventing nuclear war must be strictly followed," China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

"NATO has clearly become focused on establishing elite status in the Arctic, strengthening its offensive potential, increasing military training activity, and entangling countries far from the Arctic. In February, they launched a new mission, Arctic Sentry, and it only confirmed the course towards strengthening NATO's presence in the Arctic and containing our country," Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of European Affairs and Russia's Senior Arctic Official said during the Valdai Club Conference "The Donroe Doctrine: Trump and Greenland."

"The EU's bluster about demonstrating their unity and thus convincing Trump that his stance on Greenland is wrong — I think this is a temporary phenomenon, and they have yet to realize that they have jumped to conclusions, Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of European Affairs and Russia's Senior Arctic Official said during the Valdai Club Conference "The Donroe Doctrine: Trump and Greenland".