World awaits Putin’s Valdai speech – Kremlin
President Vladimir Putin’s annual Valdai Discussion Club speech, set for Thursday, is eagerly awaited around the world, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
According to Peskov, Putin will focus on the emerging international system described as a polycentric world. He will present his vision of the new order and explain how nations could adapt to it.
“This is his annual, traditional address. Without exaggeration, the whole world eagerly awaits this speech. As a rule, it turns out to be very substantive and is discussed and analyzed for a long time. We hope that this will also be the case this time,” Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.
The Kremlin spokesman said Putin’s Valdai speeches are always built on big-picture concepts and not influenced by temporary circumstances.
The Russian leader has often used the occasion to signal shifts in priorities or to convey new thinking on issues of global importance. He typically answers numerous questions after his speech.
In 2014, months after the Western-backed Maidan coup in Ukraine, Putin spoke about Russia’s right to protect its interests and sovereignty, positioning the nation as a counterbalance to Western dominance. He nonetheless urged Washington to avoid confrontation and to cooperate with Russia in building a multipolar world.
In 2022, following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, the president stated that he sees the West’s actions in Ukraine as part of an attempt to maintain its hegemony. A year later, he focused on the need to shape a new future, adding that Russia “was, is and will be one of the foundations of this new world system.”
