RUSSIA PERSPECTIVE

Moscow savors -- but with caution. RT headlines 'Dialogue with Russia must be restored' quoting Radev directly, making the dialogue restoration the lead. The RT piece is remarkable for what it includes: a long Radev quote invoking Macron, Belgium's PM, and Merz to justify returning to dialogue. Radev isn't presented as a Moscow ally but as a pragmatic European saying out loud what others think privately.

TASS takes a different angle: Duma international affairs committee chair Leonid Slutsky declares that Radev's victory 'testifies to society's fatigue from Russophobia at the expense of national interests.' It's the classic Russian narrative: Russophobia is irrational, and European peoples are waking up.

But the crucial detail comes from Peskov himself, quoted by both TASS and Ukrainska Pravda: 'We are encouraged by Radev's statements, but it is too early to draw broader conclusions about a change in climate across Europe.' Moscow knows Radev could follow Orban's path -- useful for vetoes, but not a reliable ally. The Kremlin is managing expectations.