"This is the beginning of a completely new, completely new reality"

On October 1, Vladimir Putin spoke at the annual session of the Valdai discussion club: in 3.5 hours, the president presented Moscow's detailed position on the breakdown of the former world order. The President explained in detail why the West is rapidly losing its hegemony, and attempts to block Russian ships and launch strikes deep into the territory of the Russian Federation are moving the escalation into a critical phase. At the same time, he outlined a path to compromise: resuming dialogue with the EU on a parity basis, taking into account mutual interests and coordinating with key players in the multipolar world — from Beijing to Washington. On what terms Moscow is ready to talk with the EU and what, in Putin's opinion, is dangerous about "digital totalitarianism" — in the Izvestia article.

"The scale of change is simply huge"

On October 1, Vladimir Putin spoke at a meeting of the Valdai discussion club, where he spent 3.5 hours discussing all the major events in world politics. This is a traditionally voluminous discussion and a unique format, as experts from all over the world can directly ask any questions to the President of Russia.

And although the topic of this year's plenary session sounded somewhat philosophical — "The limits of what is possible or possibilities without limits" — Vladimir Putin approached it very specifically, emphasizing that the world has reached a decisive turning point in its development. The West is rapidly losing its hegemony and the world is moving towards multipolarity, so it is necessary to avoid the most catastrophic scenarios in order to prevent humanity from sliding to the brink of survival.

— The scale of the changes that have already taken place and are coming is simply huge, and we seem to understand this. It is no coincidence that there are so many debates about the future, often with a pronounced tinge of anxiety due to uncertainty and unpredictability. But although humanity is experiencing great changes, it has not yet fully realized the magnitude of the challenge it is facing. This is the beginning of a completely new, completely new reality," the president admitted.

At the same time, some international organizations often do not reduce risks, but provoke them by serving the interests of one or a group of countries. For example, the UN is run less collegially and democratically than it was intended, and the West exerts a disproportionate amount of influence on the organization. Therefore, Moscow supports the idea of a fair reform of the United Nations, which implies not only the expansion of the Security Council, but also the content of the organization's work.

The principle of "there is power, there is no need for intelligence" seems to be guiding for some world players, it never leads to good, Putin stressed. And hegemony is far from just about politics. One of the challenges the world is facing now is the issue of artificial intelligence, which the president returned to in one way or another during the entire session.

"Such digital totalitarianism will be as dead—end, gloomy and inhumane as the examples of totalitarian societies of the past that we know," the Russian leader stressed.

However, progress cannot be ignored. The President recalled that AI is already making decisions on its own in many industries where humans cannot instantly analyze a large amount of information. However, it is people who rely on flair, intuition and the ability to make non-standard decisions. In this regard, Vladimir Putin recalled the story of Soviet rocket scientist Stanislav Petrov, who in 1983 made an intuitive decision not to launch missiles in response to a signal of an attack from the enemy — as it turned out later, the signal was false.

"If artificial intelligence had been in its place, everything would have turned out very differently,— Vladimir Putin is sure.

The President stated the need for an unbiased professional discussion about the modern way of conducting armed struggle.: how to preserve the humanitarian framework and limit the most severe manifestations of armed conflicts associated with the growth of destructive capabilities. The grounds for such discussions are serious: The Ukrainian Armed Forces uses AI to launch attacks on Russia.

Russia is ready for peace talks

Vladimir Putin devoted a significant part of his speech to the Ukrainian conflict and again recalled in detail its origins — from the 2014 coup d'etat and the sabotage of the Minsk agreements.

"It wasn't us who wanted to fight, and we didn't start fighting, but they started fighting with us," he said.

The neutral status of Ukraine remains one of Russia's goals, the president stressed. Moscow would like to end the fighting through negotiations as soon as possible, Putin said. But in order to return to dialogue, at least it is necessary to stop accusing Russia of unwillingness to conduct them, he stressed. At the same time, Moscow is even ready to change its position, which is exactly what happened before the meeting in Anchorage, the president said. However, Washington needed more time after that. And the result is that the Ukrainian conflict is still ongoing.

Some of Trump's current proposals remain difficult for Russia, but Moscow still considers them a move in the right direction, the president said. And Russia was ready to resume negotiations with Kiev as early as September 21, immediately after the State Duma elections, but this was prevented by massive attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the voting.

In addition, considerable damage has been done to the economic infrastructure. If Russian forces in the Black Sea attacked Ukrainian vessels exclusively with military supplies, then Kiev began to strike at Russian civilian vessels. Their number has exceeded 100, the president said. The same applies to attacks on Russian refineries, which aim to damage the Russian economy, which the president estimated at about 1% of GDP. In response, Moscow began attacking facilities important to the Ukrainian economy.

As it turned out, back on September 25, Kiev offered to mutually stop attacks on Russian refineries and Ukrainian ships with agricultural products in the Black Sea. The president rejected the logic of such a deal: the oil products exported by Russia are also civilian cargo, and sanctions and insurance barriers will still not allow Russian diesel to enter world markets unhindered. Moscow's position is transparent: it is necessary to negotiate strictly taking into account the interests of both sides, and not on Kiev's terms.

At the same time, the situation on the line of contact is actively developing, the President noted. According to him, in September alone, Russian troops took control of 1,301 square kilometers of territory, and the pace of advance continues to grow. Putin noted that about 11% of the territory of the DPR remains under Ukrainian control, and Kiev and European capitals believe that it is possible to hold them for another year or two at most.

— But if the loss of these territories inevitably happens, does it make sense to cling to them, sacrificing people, their safety and their lives? — the President of the Russian Federation asked the audience a question, obviously, not only from the audience.

The issue is not about a "piece of land," but about the people living there, Putin stressed. And once again: Russia is ready for peaceful negotiations, but it will proceed from its national interests.

Act like a mirror

Western countries that sponsor the Kiev regime play a significant role in the conflict in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin called the arms shipments themselves ordinary military-technical cooperation. However, he assesses the assistance of Western specialists in strikes deep into Russian territory in a completely different way: such operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are impossible without technical support from outside.

— This is the involvement of these countries in the war with Russia. And this creates an additional threat to the future," the president stressed.

At the same time, Russia is not going to strike "tomorrow" at enterprises of countries that supply weapons to Kiev. However, Russian intelligence must take into account where the potential threat is coming from. The same applies to attempts to detain Russian tankers and civilian vessels. Moscow is ready to respond in a mirror manner, and not necessarily in the same water area.

— We will act in a mirror manner. And maybe in the Baltic, in the Atlantic Ocean, or maybe in the Pacific, somewhere in the Indian Ocean. I don't know. Where it is more profitable for us, we will act there," Putin said.

According to him, during the recent European maneuvers in the Baltic, among other things, the "seizure of civilian vessels" was practiced. Another possible sign of escalation was the talk of a blockade of the Kaliningrad region. If it comes to a direct attack on Russia, the country will inevitably use its entire arsenal. According to Vladimir Putin, Moscow will have to use key "competitive advantages" — the allusion to Russian weapons was more than clear.

— We are not threatening anyone, we are not going to attack anyone, neither in the 29th, nor in the 30th, nor in the 50th year. If we face aggression, we will have to respond," he said.

Vladimir Putin clarified that what kind of weapon can be used will depend on the situation. But the escalation cannot remain one-sided: the steps of one side will be followed by the response of the other. As a result, the moment when nothing can be changed "can come very quickly."

— We both know that if a gun is hanging somewhere on the wall at the beginning of a performance on stage, it must eventually go off. We must keep this in mind and avoid it," Putin said.

Despite the harsh rhetoric, Putin stressed Moscow's readiness to restore dialogue with the EU, and without any preconditions. Moreover, the president does not regret his very active attempts to build relations with the West in the 2000s, although it later became clear that Russia was "not welcome there."

He linked the talk about the threat from Moscow to Europe's internal problems — the state of the economy, social policy and declining living standards: an external threat allows the authorities to divert citizens' attention from these issues. The president admitted that his own statements about Russian weapons would be used as proof that Moscow was allegedly threatening Europe with nuclear weapons.

Putin linked the way out of the current confrontation with the restoration of dialogue and trust.

— If we want to live, and everyone wants to live, just, as I said once in my public speech, let's live together. We will look for ways to do this together," the president said.

Russia is ready for dialogue on nuclear weapons as well: Moscow did not withdraw from the treaties curbing the arms race, the United States did it under various pretexts, Putin recalled. At the same time, I drew attention to the fact that Russia's strategic missile forces are very modern, and no other nuclear power has such a thing. At the same time, Moscow understands the threats associated with nuclear weapons: there must be agreements and deterrence mechanisms, the president stressed.

"We understood everything without words"

The Middle East remains another hotbed of escalation, where Moscow offers a clear concept of detente. The president called the lifting of sanctions against Tehran the key to reducing the degree, which the Iranian side is rightly seeking. According to him, the lifting of restrictions will make it possible to painlessly open the Strait of Hormuz and normalize navigation.

Moscow's key initiative remains on the negotiating table — the export of part of Iran's enriched uranium to the territory of the Russian Federation. This mechanism has already proved its effectiveness, however, due to the abrupt change in the US position, the process has reached an impasse. Nevertheless, the Russian proposal remains in force: if all parties recognize this step as a path to detente, Moscow is ready to join the work for the restoration of peace.

As an example of international stability, Vladimir Putin cited Moscow's partnership with Beijing, which share a common political vision. To demonstrate the level of trust with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the president even shared a behind-the-scenes incident in India when they were left alone without interpreters.

"It was worth saying one word, and we understood everything without words," Putin remarked with a smile.

— I suddenly thought: if you are at the APEC summit not just the two of you, but the three of you — President Trump will also be there — will you probably understand everything with him without words or half a word? — the moderator asked.

"It's going to be more difficult," the president joked.

At the same time, Moscow is ready for a trilateral meeting — there would be a meaningful agenda. Commenting on the possibility of trilateral contacts during the APEC summit, the president allowed it to be held, but the organization largely depends on China's position as the host country.

According to the head of state, dialogue and reconciliation of positions are always useful, but the formation of a clear agenda that could form the basis of negotiations at the highest level is of key importance. At the same time, Putin again emphasized that the decisive word in determining the format remains with the host of the event, President Xi Jinping.