ISTRA (Moscow Region), September 30. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance, while using Ukraine as a proxy, is soberly assessing the extreme risks and costs of a direct confrontation with Russia, Fyodor Voitolovsky, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and Director of the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO RAS), said during a session at the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Commenting on the prospects for the future world order, Voitolovsky said that "one should not expect leading powers to develop some sort of shared vision of the future." He recalled that the Soviet Union and the United States "had vastly different visions of the future, yet they soberly assessed the risks associated with a direct military clash and developed a model of peaceful coexistence."

"The conflict in Ukraine has been going on for four years, with Ukraine acting as a proxy for NATO countries in terms of weapons, intelligence, target designation, and so on," Voitolovsky said. "We are all well aware of this. Yet, over these four years, we have not seen a direct military confrontation between Russia and NATO, because the parties soberly assess the extreme risks and costs of such a confrontation."

The 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled "Responsibility for the Future: Limits of the Possible or Possibilities Without Limits?", is being held in the Moscow Region from September 28 to October 1. The club’s flagship conference brings together 120 participants from 40 countries.