This year's meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club opened on Wednesday onboard the Kronstadt cruise ship. The discussion brought together prominent experts on Russia from 15 European countries, the United States and Asia.
From the left: Historian Dominic Lieven, publicist Alexander Arkhangelsky, Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies Angela Stent, Deputy Director of the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Karaganov, historian Richard Pipes, and chairman of the Department of Modern and Contemporary European and American History at the Moscow State University Lev Belousov during the meeting of the Valdai Discussion club onboard the Kronstadt cruise ship on the Svir River.