For the last 15 years, Russia has been organizing the meetings of the Valdai International Discussion Club – the platform for sharing ideas for the world’s leading politicians, experts and journalists. This year’s event, which took place just recently in October in the beautiful city of Sochi, attracted more than sixty speakers from around twenty countries. Among them was the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who shared his views on Russian approaches to international and regional challenges and threats.
One of main issues, addressed by the Russian President, has been terrorism, which he described as “one of the most serious evils of today’s world”. He added that “the only way to effectively stand up to it is to join efforts and establish cooperation on the basis of international law and the UN resolutions. As far as the Russian role in this process is concerned, it is ready to collaborate with all like-minded countries and relevant international and regional organizations”.
Vladimir Putin focused on Syria, highlighting a significant role of the Russian Federation in stabilizing the situation in that Middle East country, which bleeds from the scourge of terrorism and extremism. “We did a lot of damage to terrorists in Syria. Many of them were eliminated, and some of them, thank God, decided they wanted out: they laid down their arms after losing faith in the principles they considered right”, said Mr. Putin. “We have preserved Syrian statehood and in this sense helped stabilize the region. We have liberated almost 95 percent of the entire territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. Therefore, I believe we have generally achieved the goals we had set for ourselves in starting the operation in Syria”, added the Russian President. “The next step is a political settlement at the UN in Geneva. We need to form a constitutional committee now. Progress is not easy, but we are still moving forward. I hope that we will move ahead with our partners in this area”.
Talking about the situation in the Middle Eastin general, Putin highlighted that the key underlying factor of all problems in this region is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The President underscored, that “every effort must be made to resolve it, to establish direct contacts between the Israelis and the Palestinians, to resume multilateral efforts to resolve the decades-long crisis”. He reminded that military interference of one country leading to regime change in another, disliked for not being democratic enough,is simply “thoughtless and immoral”.“Such policies have resulted in destruction of state structures and balance of power in Iraq and Libya, having led to catastrophic consequences for the entire Middle East, Africa and Europe in the shape of terrorism, sectarian clashes and refugees”, said Vladimir Putin.
“Russia, being an active and responsible world power”, he continued, “pays serious attention to conflicts far away from its borders as well as being interested in having a peaceful and secure neighborhood”. That is why Mr. Putin has reitertaed that the Russian Federation stands for a full-scale revival of relations with Ukraine.“Kiev, unfortunately, is aimed solely at dissemination of Russophobia and anti-Russian sentiments, blaming Russia for all the bad things happening in this country, while driving its relations with Russia an impasse”, said the President.
Vladimir Putin also highlighted that Russia values its sovereignty and independence and that is why “it pursues its foreign policy in a resolute manner”. This is exactly what the Russian Federation is being punished for by the Western states, which imposed economic sanctions and expelled tens of Russian diplomats and journalists from their territories on the basis of flimsy excuses and pretexts.
At the same time, certain circles in the West find it convenient to play the “anti-Russia card” to resolve domestic political problems. “It has become kind of a rule in today’s politics to blame Russia of “highly likely” having done this or that, for intervening at one place and wreaking havoc at another without producing any evidence”, said Mr. Putin.
But Russia is not afraid of anything as it is one of the largest nuclear powers”, pointed out Mr. Putin. “We live in a world where security relies on nuclear capability. We are improving our attack systems as an answer to the United States building its missile defence system. Some of these systems have already been fielded, and some will be put into service in the coming months. Clearly, we have overtaken all our partners and competitors in this sphere”, added the Russian President. At the same time, Vladimir Putin emphasized that Russia’s nuclear weapons doctrine does not provide for a pre-emptive strike, which means that nuclear weapons will be used as a reciprocal counter strike only in case of an attack on Russia by an aggressor. Concluding his speech at the Valdai forum, Vladimir Putin expressed his confidence that the world, despite numerous threats existing today, is becoming more balanced due to transition to multipolarity, with several major centers of power. “This process is good for all countries all over the world. Today’s difficulties can be overcome through building dialogue among all states on basis equality and respect of each other’s interests”, said the Russian President.