Heiner Flassbeck, honorary professor for economics and politics at Hamburg University and former state secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Finance, discusses the way in which Western countries have failed to integrate Eastern Europe including Russia over the past 30 years.
Vladimir Milov, Russian opposition politician and former deputy energy minister for Russia, discusses the possibilities for regime change in the country and effectiveness of sanctions following the war in Ukraine.
Bjørnar Tonhaugen, partner and head of oil markets at Rystad Energy, discusses the latest moves in the energy market amid unprecedented sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports.
French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire speaks to CNBC’s Charlotte Reed about President Emmanuel Macron’s campaign pledges to unwind dependence on Russian gas and Asia semiconductors in what he describes as the end of “naive globalisation.” He speaks less than one month ahead of the first round of the French presidential election.
President Putin has made a big mistake, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Thursday, ahead of an extraordinary meeting of the transatlantic alliance in Brussels.
Christopher Granville, managing director at TS Lombard, discusses the outlook for Russia’s economy amid a barrage of sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s war with Ukraine. Granville says the punitive measures imposed so far represent a “tremendously powerful adverse hit,” but the Russian economy is still likely to limp on without a much deeper dislocation.
Lithuania President Gitanas Nausėda discusses Russia’s war with Ukraine, the country’s commitment to NATO and his outlook for diplomatic relations with the Kremlin.