MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in a final plenary session of the 12th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club which is under way in the Russian resort city of Sochi. At the session Putin is expected to present his position on the world’s business environment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"This year’s theme is War and Peace - and that is rather timely I’d say following development of world affairs," Peskov said. "Certainly, one should await the president’s speech with large interest as we can strongly suppose that the president will present his stance on the world’s business environment."
Along with this, Putin is likely to have a look at the latest offering from the Russian car maker Avtovaz, the Lada Vesta car, he said.
"Of course, he will have a look at the Lada as [Avtovaz] head Bo Andersson is attending the Valdai discussions and as a participant in the discussions, he has spoken about his wish to present the latest Lada car model to the president," the presidential press secretary went on to say noting "We do not rule out this might happen."
Various aspects of perception of war and peace both in the public and in international relations, religion and economic collaboration make up the agenda of three days’ discussions at separate panels. One of the discussions tackles the media role in shaping the perception of global confrontation and also a special session highlights the most topical current theme - the Middle East crisis.
Some 130 participants from 30 countries have arrived in Sochi for the 12th forum of the Big Valdai that launched its work in Sochi on October 19.
Putin has already attended the previous sessions, including last year’s session focusing on rules of the new world order. In 2013 the president was kept busy answering the participant’s questions for several hours.
The Valdai International Discussion Club was set up in 2004 and named after the place where the first conference took place - the city of Veliky Novgorod near Lake Valdai. The club hosts leading foreign political analysts and experts in the Russian economy and culture. Over the eleven years that have elapsed since then, it has brought together more than 900 representatives of the global scholar community from 62 countries.