[000:00:00;00] in my opinion, there has never been a time when you missed and did not meet with your valdai colleagues, there are those in the hall who met you before, and for the first time, and there are those who for the first time and i will be very glad to offer you state your current opinion. thank you. thank you very much, dear participants of the plenary session, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, i am glad to welcome you all to sochi at the anniversary, as our presenter has just said, the twentieth annual meeting of the valdai international discussion club, ours or you can say, your forum, which by tradition

has gathered , is always a reflection of the most important processes of world politics of the century in all their complexity. i am sure that it will be so today, well, it was probably already so, today, among ourselves, it will be so today, it will be so in the future, because we are essentially faced with the task of building a new world, at such defining stages the role and responsibility of people like you, dear colleagues, the number of intellectuals is extremely large, over the years of the club’s work in the world, in our country, as

just said, serious, not to say huge, colossal changes. by historical standards, a period of 20 years is not so long, not so long, but when it falls during the era of the breakdown of the entire world order, time seems to compress, and i think you will agree that more events happened in these 20 years than in other times it happens for many, many, many. decades, and these changes are qualitative, requiring fundamental changes in the very principles of international relations. at the beginning of the 20th century, everyone hoped that the state of the people had learned lessons from the costly destructive military-ideological confrontation of the last century. we realized its destructiveness, felt the fragility of the interconnectedness of our entire planet. we were convinced that the global problems

of humanity. requires joint action to find collective solutions, and selfishness, conceit, and disregard for real challenges will inevitably lead or will lead us into a dead end, just like the attempt of the stronger to impose their own ideas and interests on others, this should have become obvious to everyone, should have become obvious, but it turned out that this is not... so, no, this is not so, when we first met at a club meeting almost 20 years ago, our country was entering a new stage of its development, russia had overcome the most difficult period of recovery after the collapse of the ussr, we with all the energy and good will we joined in the processes of building a new, as it seemed to us, more equitable world order. fortunately, our

country is able to make a huge contribution to them. because we have something to offer our friends, partners, and the whole world. unfortunately, our readiness for constructive interaction, some misunderstood, understood it as submission, as agreement that the new order would be built by those who declared themselves victors in the cold war. essentially, as a recognition that russia is ready to follow someone else’s path. is ready to be guided not by its own national interests, but by the interests of others. all these years , we have warned more than once that this approach not only leads to a dead end, it is fraught with an increase in the threat of military conflict, but no one will listen to us was going to, no one wanted to. the arrogance of our so-called partners in the west, you

know, is just off the charts. it is impossible to say otherwise, the united states and its satellites have firmly set a course for hegemony, military, political, economic, cultural, even moral. value, it was clear to us from the very beginning that attempts to establish a monopoly are doomed to failure, the world is too complex and diverse to be subordinated to one scheme, even if behind it there is power, enormous power in the west, accumulated over centuries of colonial policy, well, and your colleagues, many are absent here, but they do not deny that prosperity was largely achieved thanks to the robbery of the colonies over the centuries, but this is a fact. in fact , this level of development was achieved largely due to

the plunder of the entire planet; the history of the west is essentially a chronicle of endless expansion. western influence in the world is a huge military-financial pyramid. she needs new fuel all the time. to support yourself itself, natural, technological, human resources belonging to others, so the west simply cannot stop and did not intend to do so. our arguments, exhortations, calls to reason, proposals were simply ignored, i have already spoken about this publicly, to our allies, our partners, because there was a moment when your humble servant simply suggested that maybe... we should join nato, but no , nato doesn’t need such a country, no, the question is, what else, we thought that we were already one of our own, excuse me, as our bourgeois people say, what

else is there no more ideological confrontation, what is the problem, apparently the problem is in geopolitical interests, an arrogant attitude towards others, that is the problem, self-confidence. that's the problem. we have to respond to the constantly growing military-political pressure. i have said more than once that we did not start the so -called war in ukraine. on the contrary, we are trying to finish it. we were not the ones who staged the coup in kiev in 2014 . bloody coup d'etat unconstitutional. wherever it happens, we always immediately hear all the world's means. in the world, this is not possible, it is impossible, it is anti-democratic, but here it is possible, they even named the money, the amount of money spent on

this coup, everything is possible, at that time we were supporting the crimeans and sevastopol residents, we did not stage coups and we did not intimidate the crimeans and sevastopol people. it was not we who tried to force the donbass into obedience with the help of shelling and bombing, it was not we who threatened to deal with those who want to speak in in your native language, listen, well, here are all informed, literate people , it’s good to brainwash, excuse the maviton, with a million people who perceive reality from the media, well, you know what happened throughout.. years of bombing, shooting, tanks were used, war, a natural war against the donbass, and no one counted the children who died in donbass, no one in other countries, especially in the west,

cried for the dead, a war started by the kiev regime with the active direct support of the west this is already the tenth year, and a special military operation is aimed at stopping it. and she reminds that unilateral steps, no matter who takes them, will inevitably be met with retaliatory actions, action , as we know, gives rise to opposition, this is what any responsible state, a sovereign, independent self-respecting country does, everyone is aware that in an international system where arbitrariness reigns, where everything is decided... the one who has renewed himself as exceptional, sinless and unique right, anyone can be under attack, simply for the reason that this or that country was not liked by the hegemon, who has lost his sense of proportion, and i will add a sense

of reality, unfortunately, we have to admit that our counterparties in the west have lost all possible sense of reality boundaries were crossed in vain. the ukrainian crisis is not a territorial conflict, i want to emphasize this, russia is the largest, the largest country in the world in terms of territory. we don't have it. no interests in terms of winning any additional territories, what should we develop, to develop siberia, and eastern siberia, and the far east, this is not a territorial conflict, and not even the establishment of a regional geopolitical balance, the question is much broader and more fundamental, we are talking about the principles on which the new world order will be based, lasting peace will be established only when... everyone begins to feel

safe, understand that their opinion is respected, and that there is a balance in the world, when no one is able to force or coerce at their own will the rest to live and behave as the hegemon pleases. in such a scheme, the very concept of any kind of sovereignty is simply denied, thrown, excuse me, into the trash. obviously, commitment to the bloc. approaches, the desire to drive the world into a situation of constant confrontation, we, they, the vicious legacy of the century, this is a product of western political culture, in any case, its most aggressive manifestations, i repeat, the west always needs an enemy, well, a certain part, a certain part of the west, a certain part western elites, we need an enemy to fight against one can explain the need for force... the action of expansion, but, but, it is also needed to

maintain internal control in a certain system, this very hegemon, within blocs, within nato or other military-political blocs, there is an enemy, everyone must rally around the boss, uh, it’s not our business how other states live, but we see, we see how in many of them the ruling elites force... society to accept norms and rules that the citizens themselves, at least a large number of citizens, in some countries can exactly, absolutely, the majority of citizens do not want to accept, but they are forced, constantly inventing reasons for this, finding external culprits for growing internal problems, inventing and inflating non-existent threats, while russia is the favorite of such politicians, we are certainly

accustomed to this, historically accustomed, but they are trying to mold the image of the enemy from everyone, from everyone who is not ready to blindly follow these western elites, from anyone, from the people's republic of china, in certain situations, at a certain moment, and from india with the same sweat, now they are flirting, of course, we understand this perfectly well, we feel and see the situation in asia, everything is clear, well, there the indian leadership, i want to say, is independent, very nationally oriented, and i think that these attempts make no sense , but nevertheless, they continue, they are trying to mold an enemy from the arab world, also selectively, well, they are trying to act carefully, but nevertheless, in general, this is what it all comes down to, and even from muslims in general they are trying... to mold some kind of

hostile wednesday, and so on, in fact anyone, anyone who behaves independently, follows his own interests, instantly turns into an obstacle for these western elites that needs to be eliminated , artificial geopolitical structures are imposed on the world, closed bloc formats are created, we see this in europe, where for decades the impudent line of nato expansion, as well as... in the asia-pacific region and southern asia, where they are trying to break the open and inclusive architecture of cooperation. the block approach, let's call a spade a spade, is a limitation the rights of freedom of states to their own development, an attempt to drive them into a certain cage of obligations, this is to a certain extent , but this is an obvious thing, taking away part of the sovereignty, and very often imposing

decisions in other areas, in addition to the security sphere, and primarily in the economic sphere, well as is now happening in relations between the united states and europe. there is no need to explain; if necessary, during the discussion after my opening remarks, we will talk about this in more detail. to this end, international law is trying replace... with an order, with what order, based on certain rules, what rules, what kind of rules they are, who invented them, is completely unclear. but this is just some kind of nonsense, they are trying to introduce it into the consciousness of millions of people, we must live by rules, what kind of rules, and in general, if you allow, our western colleagues, especially from the usa, do not just establish arbitrary such rules, but teach at the same time, who

should carry them out and how, who should behave in general and how, all this is done and said as rules in an openly boorish form , this is all the same manifestation of this colonial colonial thinking, we hear all the time, it sounds all the time, you must, you are obliged, we are seriously warning you, who are you anyway, what right do you have to someone- i must warn you, this is simply amazing. maybe it’s for those who say this, maybe it’s time for you yourself to get rid of arrogance, transfer, stop behaving in relation to the world community in such a way, which perfectly understands its tasks, its interests, it’s time to get rid of

this, this thinking of the era of colonial rule, i want to say, wipe your eyes, this era has long ended and will never return, never. i will say more, over the centuries, such behavior led to the reproduction of the same thing, big wars, to justify which they came up with various ideological, and even pseudo-moral justifications. today this is especially dangerous; humanity has means that, as we know, can easily destroy the entire planet. and incredible on a large scale, manipulation of consciousness leads to a loss of a sense of reality, we certainly need to get out of this vicious circle, we need to look for some way out, as i understand it, dear friends and colleagues, for this you are gathering at the valdean site. in the concept

of russian foreign policy, adopted this year, our country was characterized as a civilization, characterized as a distinctive state. this formulation accurately and succinctly reflects how we understand not only our own development, but also the basic principles of the world devices to win, which we hope. in our understanding, civilization is a multifaceted phenomenon, it is certainly interpreted in different ways, there was also an openly colonial interpretation , there is a certain civilized world that serves... as a model for others, everyone must follow these standards, these models, and whoever disagrees those will be driven into civilization with the baton of an enlightened master. these times, as i just said, are over;

our understanding of civilization is completely different. firstly, there are many civilizations. and none of them they are no better and no worse than the other. they have equal rights as exponents of their aspirations, their cultures and traditions, their peoples. well, for each of us this is different, for me, for example , this is the aspiration of our people, of which i was lucky enough to become a part, outstanding thinkers all over the world, adherents of a civilized, civilizational approach, reflected and continued. to reflect on the concept of civilization, this is a multi -component phenomenon, without plunging into philosophical depths, this is probably not the place, not the time for such reasoning, let’s try to describe it in relation to today, well, objectively, i’ll try to do it, the main

qualities of the state of civilization , diversity and self-sufficiency, these are the two main components, in my opinion , of the modern world... any unification is alien, each state and society wants to be independent to work out your own path of development, based on culture and traditions, strengthened in geography, historical experience, both ancient and modern, in the values ​​of the people, this is a complex synthesis in the process of which an original civilizational community arises, its heterogeneity, diversity is the key to sustainability, and over the centuries russia has been formed as a country of different cultures, religions, nationalities, russian civilization cannot be reduced to one common thing , but it cannot be divided, because it exists only in its integrity,

spiritual and cultural wealth, maintaining the strong unity of such a state is not an easy task, over the centuries we have had the most difficult trials, we have always overcome them, sometimes at a very high cost, but we invariably learned lessons for the future, strengthening our national unity and ... one size fits all, as we say, to which some states are accustomed, they cannot cope with all the complexity of the processes, which is very important, to add, truly effective and a strong state system cannot be imposed from the outside, it becomes a natural way from the civilizational roots of the countries of peoples, and russia in this regard

is an example of how this happens in life, in practice. civilization support - necessary a condition for success in the modern world, a chaotic, unfortunately dangerous world that has lost its guidelines. more and more states are coming to exactly this conclusion, realizing their own interests and needs. opportunities and limitations, their identity and degree of interconnectedness with the outside world. i am convinced that humanity is not moving towards fragmentation into competing segments, not towards a new bloc confrontation, no matter what motivates it, not towards the soulless universalism of a new globalization, on the contrary, the world is on the way to a synergy of states civilization, large spaces, common awareness of themselves as such. at the same time, civilization is not a universal

structure, one for all, this does not happen. each of them is different from the others, each is culturally self-sufficient, drawing its ideological and value principles from its own history and its own traditions. respect for oneself follows from respect, of course, for others, but it also means respect on the part of others, therefore civilization does not impose anything on anyone, but also does not allow anything to be imposed on oneself, if everything will adhere to just such a rule, this will ensure harmonious coexistence and creative interaction of all participants in international relations, and of course, protecting their civilizational choice is a huge responsibility, this applies to responding to external situations. establishing close and constructive relationships with other civilizational communities, and most importantly, maintaining internal stability and

harmony, because we all see that the international environment today, as i already said, unfortunately, is both unstable and quite aggressive. and one more very important thing: of course, you cannot betray your civilization to anyone. this is also the path to the universal. chaos, this is unnatural and disgusting, i would say, we , for our part, have always tried and are trying to offer solutions that would take into account the interests of everyone, but our interlocutors in the west seem to have completely forgotten that there are such concepts as reasonable self-restraints, compromises, readiness to give in something in order to achieve a result acceptable to everyone, no, they are literally obsessed only one, to push through... and at any cost here now their interests, well, if this is their

choice, let's see what comes of it. the paradox is that tomorrow the situation may change, this is the problem, for example , internal political shifts will occur after the next elections, so the country insists on something, pushes through its own deeds at all costs. and tomorrow internal political changes occur, with the same pressure and unceremoniousness, something completely different, sometimes the exact opposite, is pushed through. most a striking example is the iranian nuclear program. one administration pushed through one decision, another came, everything was turned around, everything went in the opposite direction. how to work? in such conditions, where are the guidelines, what to rely on, where are the guarantees? these are the

very rules that we are told about, so what? some kind of all this, why is it happening? why doesn't this bother anyone? because strategic thinking has been replaced by following short-term, selfish interests, not even of the countries of peoples, their successive groups, their successive groups of influence, hence the incredible by previous measures, by the previous standards of the cold war, the irresponsible behavior of political elites, who often forgot fear , shame and... considering themselves absolutely sinless, the civilizational approach resists such trends, because it is based on the fundamental, long-term interests of the state of peoples, interests that are dictated not by the current ideological conjuncture, but by all historical experience, the legacy of the past, on which the idea of ​​a harmonious future is based,

if everyone is guided by this, in my opinion... there will be much fewer conflicts in the world, and the methods for resolving them will become much more rational, because every civilization respects, as i already said, others, and does not try to change anyone according to its own ideas, i am interested, dear friends, i read the report prepared by the valdai club for the current meeting, it says that today everyone is trying to understand, imagine, an image of the future, this is completely natural and understandable, especially for the intellectual environment, in an era of fundamental changes, when the entire familiar way of life is collapsing, it is very important to realize where we are going, what we want to achieve, and of course, the future is being created today , not only before our eyes, with our hands, of course, when we are talking about such gigantic,

incredibly complex processes, it is difficult to predict the result ? or it is practically impossible, no matter what we do, life will make, will certainly make its own adjustments, but at least we must be aware of what we are striving for, what we want to achieve, and such an understanding in russia there is, first, we want to live in an open, an interconnected world in which no one will ever try to erect artificial barriers to people’s communication. their creative realization and prosperity, there must be a barrier-free environment, this is what we must strive for, secondly, we want the diversity of the world not just to be preserved, but to be the foundation of universal development, imposing on any country or people how they should live, how they should feel, should be

prohibited, only true cultural and diversity will ensure the benefit of people and the balance of interests. third, we are for maximum representativeness. no one has the right, nor can anyone, rule the world for others, or on behalf of others. the world of the future is a world of collective decisions made at the level at which they are most effective and by the composition of participants who are truly capable of making a significant contribution to resolving a specific problem. not one person decides for everyone. and not everyone even decides about everything, but those who are directly affected by this or that issue agree on what and how to do, fourth, we are for universal security and lasting peace, built on respecting the interests of everyone, from great, large states to small countries, the main thing is to free international

relations from the bloc approach, from the legacy of the colonial era and the cold war. we have been talking for decades about the indivisibility of security, about the fact that it is impossible to ensure the security of some at the expense of the security of others, and indeed , harmony in this area is achievable, you just need to put aside pride, arrogance and stop looking at others as second-class partners, or as outcasts or savages. fifth, we are for justice for all. the era of exploitation of anyone, i have already said this twice in the past, countries and peoples are clearly aware of their interests and capabilities, and are ready to rely on themselves, and this increases strength, everyone should be provided with access to the benefits of modern development, attempts to achieve it restrict for any country or people, must be considered an act of aggression,