The main thing from Putin’s speech at the Valdai Discussion club

Vladimir Putin took part in the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. He noted the growing crisis of Western democracy and outlined possible ways out of it.

About the global crisis.

The conference, which lasted in Moscow from October 24 to 27, was devoted to topical issues of the new global order. „The world after hegemony: justice and security for all” — this is how the organizers formulated the central theme. Even before Putin’s speech, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it „the main event of the day.” According to him, this speech will have to be „studied, read and reread.”

The President began with a general assessment of the situation in the world. Everything continues to develop according to the negative scenario, which Moscow has repeatedly warned about. And it’s not just military threats, but also economic challenges.

„The West has taken a number of steps to aggravate, they always play to aggravate,” the head of state noted, mentioning the crises around Ukraine, Taiwan, as well as food problems. At the same time, the West has no unity, it is only a conglomerate of countries with enough contradictions between them.
There are only two ways left: to accumulate a load of problems that will „crush” all world players, or to solve problems together, albeit not in ideal, but in effective ways.

About the culture of „cancellation”.

„Confidence in one’s infallibility is a dangerous state,” Putin recalled, pointing to attempts by Western opponents (as the president gently called them) to „cancel” foreign cultures.

At the moment, any alternative point of view is equated with propaganda or undermining values. „What have you sunk to, move your brains,” Putin addressed the „opponents”. Any criticism towards the West is perceived as „machinations” and „machinations of the Kremlin.”
The President quoted Russian thinkers — from Dostoevsky to Solzhenitsyn — who had long predicted, in Putin’s opinion, the fall of Western democratic standards.
Various forms of democracy are being denied, he added, in favor of only one model of democracy. And it comes to aggressively imposing their views. „Oh, it’s easy,” Putin emotionally commented on the recognition of Western countries in the preparation of the 2014 coup in Ukraine.

About the conflict with the West.

True democracy lies only in the observance of the right of each state to choose its own model of development of society, Putin stressed. The West is afraid of alternatives that are already proving effective. But development is inevitable. And the Americans are not able to offer at least something, they are trying to fit all states under the same patterns, condemning the culture of undesirable peoples.

„Traditional values are not a fixed set of postulates: in every case they are unique for every nation, they should not be imposed, but respected,” the president said, referring to the non—traditional views prevailing in the West.
Russia did not consider itself and does not consider itself an enemy of Western countries. But they want to turn us into a tool to achieve their goals. Russia is not going to be one, like many other states.
At the same time, „we ourselves are not trying to become a hegemon, to replace the dominance of the West with the dominance of the East, North or South,” Putin added.

About integration.

The way out of the current difficult moment is possible only with the creation of financial institutions that do not depend on a single country. A departure from the dictate of the dollar is inevitable, settlements in national currencies will continue to increase, as will other integration processes.

The new centers of power are able to compete with the West. But only together can we achieve results. To do this, it is enough for Western countries to allow local markets to develop without seizing their resources, as they used to do. Russia, for example, creates entire industries in other countries, contributing to a technological breakthrough.
„If liberal globalization is depersonalization, then integration is the joint development of common strategies that benefit everyone,” the president summed up. But, according to him, in any case, the world expects „the most unpredictable decade.”

Many of the President’s theses have become a logical continuation of what he voiced in a somewhat milder form in previous years. Thus, Putin regularly and a lot talked about the relations between Russia and the West, which had reached an impasse due to the fact that Moscow’s behavior was misinterpreted abroad. Among other things, he pointed out that they perceived Russian openness and trust in partners as a weakness. And that was a mistake.