Meeting of Valdai Discussion Club

Meeting of Valdai Discussion Club

Vladimir Putin addressed the plenary session of the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. This year’s theme is “Responsibility for the Future: Limits of the Possible, or Limitless Possibilities?” The discussion was moderated by Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai International Discussion Club Fyodor Lukyanov. * * * Fyodor Lukyanov: Friends, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the plenary session of the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. I am pleased to invite President Vladimir Putin to join us. Mr President, welcome. We are very pleased that, as in previous years, you have taken the time to meet with us. Valdai meetings are always packed with events. Apparently, in keeping with the global dynamics, they are becoming increasingly packed and intense, and the mood is becoming increasingly upbeat as well, to put it mildly. This year, if I were to list the key takeaways from the meeting, the forum that we have held over the past three days, first thing I would mention is change. Clearly, we witness changes taking place across all areas of human activity; second, responsibility, because the greater the changes, the less clarity we have about the way things will unfold in the future, and the greater the responsibility we all bear for such developments; and third, surprising as it may seem, and discussed this matter at length, is the concept of calm. Our annual report this year is titled “Don’t Panic.” Given the difficult circumstances, we suggest avoiding the worst possible response, namely, giving in to panic. I think that, given your position, you have a better sense of which international issues are the most important right now, so I am pleased to invite you to speak. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues. As is customary, we have gathered at the annual forum of the Valdai International Discussion Club to discuss the most pressing global issues. We have always sought not only to diagnose the state of the world, but also to provide an outline of the emerging world order. I am convinced that the Club’s intellectual legacy and many years of direct and candid dialogue will certainly be called upon when all of us – East and West, North and South – will sooner or later need to come to terms on the principles for shaping a new world order that is capable of ensuring progress and development of humanity for decades to come. Unfortunately, we must admit that we are facing different tasks today: ones that are more pressing and acute. Although the moderator spoke about the need to calm everyone, these acute problems have not disappeared. The alarming trends we are seeing on the international stage compel us to think first and foremost not about how to organise global interaction more wisely, effectively, and equitably in the future – although all of this is, of course, vitally important – but about how to preserve global peace and security here and now, at a time when many established legal norms have been cast aside and new ones have yet to emerge. What must be done to avert the most catastrophic scenarios? Responsibility for our shared future is far more than just an abstract slogan. It entails a set of practical measures aimed at preventing humanity from being pushed to the brink of survival and averting irreparable consequences. The world has reached a decisive turning point in its development. This is not just because of politics; politics, as always, is a consequence of profound changes. Transformations are taking place across every sphere: from virtually all areas of technology to the social structures of our societies; from climate to medicine; from military science to bioethics; from the future of energy to demographic shifts; and from universal digitalisation and artificial intelligence to entirely new models of economic development. The list goes on. Taken together, these factors are creating the conditions for a fundamental transformation. We cannot yet fully assess or definitively interpret all the circumstances and consequences of this shift, if only because these changes are unfolding simultaneously and their impact on societies and states is contradictory. But I will return to this later. The scale of the changes that have already taken place, and those still to come, is truly immense. We seem to grasp this – as evidenced by the many debates that are being held about the future, often tinged with anxiety over uncertainty and unpredictability – but humanity has not yet fully comprehended the true magnitude of the challenge it faces. We are entering a completely new and unprecedented reality. Threats and dangers are inextricably intertwined with opportunities and prospects; they cannot be separated from one another. Our entire way of living is changing. To be continued.