SOCHI, October 5. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin could announce at a Thursday meeting that he is ending Russia’s unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, Richard Sakwa, an emeritus professor of Russian and European politics at the UK’s University of Kent, told TASS.

There’s a chance that Putin will do so when he speaks at the plenary session of the 20th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, the professor said on the sidelines of the event.

"Yes, it is possible. We have recently seen NATO hold military exercises involving Aegis Ashore systems with Mk 41 launchers," the analyst said.

He said the moratorium decision would be optimal, but also suggested that Russia should make "some sort of a statement that the militarization of Europe to the limit is unacceptable."

The analyst said that tensions in the area of such sensitive issues have run high because the platforms for dialogue on these issues have stopped being helpful.

"The OSCE is not working, the United Nations is not working. Where are these channels, where is the dialogue?" he said. "We need to restore the spirit of new political thinking. War is old political thinking. It threatens the whole world."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov earlier told reporters that the reasons for Russia to maintain a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles were wearing away due to US actions, but Moscow made no new decisions in this regard yet. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ahead of the Valdai meeting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would deliver a "very substantial" speech there, and that his speeches at the event always gain global significance.

The 20th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club is taking place in Sochi from October 2 to 5. Its slogan is Fair Multipolarity: How to Ensure Security and Development for Everyone.