Putin's speech at the Valdai session. Main statements

On October 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the plenary session of the XXIII annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. The Head of State spoke about the beginning of a new world reality, the need to work out the principles of the future world order, the risks of artificial intelligence and global military confrontation, and also spoke about Russia's relations with the West, the conflict in Ukraine and the consequences of the collapse of the USSR. All the details and the main statements of the president are in the Izvestia material.

The world has reached a turning point

The world has entered a crucial stage of its development, Putin said. According to him, the changes that are taking place affect not only politics, but almost all spheres of life, and humanity has not yet fully realized their scale.

The President called what was happening the beginning of a new reality in which threats simultaneously coexist with new opportunities. At the same time, it is impossible to assess all the consequences of the current transformation in advance, since changes occur simultaneously and have contradictory effects on states and societies.

Putin said that the world is not doomed to chaos. In his opinion, the formation of a multipolar system will take a long time, but eventually it should lead to the emergence of a new model of international relations.

All states, regardless of their position — the countries of the East and West, North and South — will have to agree on common principles of a new world order in the future, the president believes. According to him, such a system should ensure the development of mankind for the next decades.

At the same time, Putin noted that the immediate task is to prevent the most dangerous scenarios. He called for the search for practical solutions that will not allow humanity to approach the brink of survival.

Putin pointed to problems in the work of the United Nations

The President also touched upon the work of international institutions. He stated that some of them, instead of reducing global risks, may create new problems and act in the interests of individual states or groups of countries.

According to Putin, there are reasonable comments about the activities of the United Nations (UN). The Head of State believes that the organization today is run less collegially and democratically than it was supposed to be when it was created.

The President attributed this to a change in the global balance of power. According to him, the influence of Western states is gradually decreasing, but a small group of Western countries still retains a disproportionately significant role in global institutions.

Moscow continues to advocate for the reform of the United Nations, Putin noted. At the same time, changes, according to him, can only be carried out if a consensus is reached within the organization itself, which is difficult to achieve now.

Putin warned about the risks of AI and digital totalitarianism

Technological development has already begun to affect not only the economy and everyday life, but also the biological and moral nature of man, Putin said. On the one hand, new developments can significantly improve the quality of life, on the other hand, they create fundamentally new threats.

The president paid special attention to artificial intelligence (AI). According to him, humanity has yet to understand how the rapid development of such technologies will affect people's intellectual level, culture and spiritual heritage.

Putin noted that experts warn of the risk of depersonalization of a person under the influence of algorithms. He called the possible formation of "digital totalitarianism" the same dead-end and inhumane path as the totalitarian models of the past.

At the same time, technology increases the destructive potential of military conflicts. The President warned that the development of new systems could take the possibility of total destruction to another level, including in the event of loss of control over technological processes.

Putin declared violation of taboos in world politics

Pre-existing restrictions and taboos are being violated in international relations today, the President said. In his assessment, world politics requires a more cautious approach and compliance not only with the formal letter of international law, but also with established norms of state interaction.

Putin said that the systematic failure to fulfill commitments and the transformation of negotiations into a propaganda tool are destroying the foundation of international relations. He also called deliberate distortion of facts for short-term political gain a dangerous practice.

At the same time, the President stressed that it is possible to create a stable international system. In his opinion, in world history there have always been states capable of assuming responsibility for maintaining balance and rules of interaction.

What Putin said about relations between Russia and the West

Putin said that the current deterioration of relations between Russia and Western countries was not initiated by Moscow. According to him, it would be more beneficial for European states to build normal relations with Russia and gradually restore mutual trust.

At the same time, the President called trust an extremely fragile mechanism. According to him, it is difficult to form it, but it can be destroyed much faster.

Speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, Putin said that Russia did not seek to start hostilities, but was forced to respond to external threats. He also recalled the goal of Western politicians to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.

The Russian leader also linked what was happening to Russophobia, NATO policy and attitudes towards the Russian-speaking population.

Putin spoke about the collapse of the USSR

Putin called the collapse of the Soviet Union a tragedy. According to him, after the destruction of the former state structure, tens of millions of people found themselves outside the country overnight, which affected their future fate and the lives of future generations.

The President attributed some of the problems of that period to the overly high level of trust of the late Soviet leadership in Western partners and informal agreements. According to him, many modern international contradictions are related, among other things, to decisions taken at the end of the 20th century.

In addition, Putin said that after the collapse of the USSR, Russia had been making long-term attempts to integrate into the Western system. According to him, some of the Western states at the same time sought not a full-fledged partnership, but a further weakening of Russia.

Putin urged not to turn the country into a "museum of former greatness"

Speaking about the future of Russia, Putin said that the state cannot exist solely at the expense of previous achievements. No matter how significant the successes of previous generations may have been, the country must continue to develop and adapt to changes.

According to the president, the true greatness of the state is impossible without the ability to meet the demands of the times. Ideally, a country should not only follow global changes, but also stay ahead of them.

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