Putin outlines world order At the Valdai plenary

Sep 25

Fyodor Lukyanov introduces the Valdai plenary and Vladimir Putin gives his complete prepared address. Putin argues that Western dominance is giving way to a multipolar world and urges respect for distinct national cultures, sovereignty and negotiated rules. He calls for fair UN reform with wider representation and changed priorities, while acknowledging the difficulty of consensus. He denies that Russia started the Ukraine war and advances a blame-centered account of Western policy and Ukrainian actions. He attributes the Soviet collapse primarily to accumulated internal failures, also criticizing Soviet leaders’ trust in Western partners, and quotes Egon Bahr’s 1990 warnings and proposed common European security council. Putin warns about AI control, digital conformity and autonomous military decisions, recalls Stanislav Petrov’s rejection of a false missile alert in 1983 and argues for human judgment and agreed safeguards. He calls for joint ethical responses to genetic intervention and efforts to influence personality and behavior. He also urges humanitarian limits on warfare while claiming Russian military personnel have never been the first to attack targets unrelated to enemy military infrastructure. He advocates a Greater Eurasian partnership and an indivisible-security charter, recalling its UN launch the previous week, and concludes with an appeal for cooperation. Historical interpretations, allegations and counterfactuals remain attributed to Putin; no reform, charter adoption or peace agreement is announced.

Lavrov reports that Russia, Belarus and other participating delegations launched Eurasian Charter drafting during the UN high-level week. He describes an open expert process, envisaged sessions in Minsk and Moscow and other prospective hosts, with no artificial deadline. This is a launch of work and announced plans, not an adopted charter. In his October 1 Valdai address, Putin recalls the practical launch at the UN the previous week, names Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in the participating ministerial meeting and describes the charter’s indivisible-security purpose. This retrospective confirmation does not establish an adopted charter or change the original Russia–Belarus initiative into a new launch.