SOCHI, October 24. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in the Valdai Club meeting in Sochi on Friday.
The Valdai International Discussion Club unites leading world political analysts and experts who study Russian economy, culture and other spheres. Its first meeting was held near Lake Valdai, north-western Russia. The club, created in September 2004, meets annually in various Russian regions. Over the ten years, more than 600 experts from 47 countries have participated in its discussions.
The forum opened in Sochi on Thursday. Among the key topics are the international political system and the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East. One hundred and eight experts, historians and political analysts, more than half of them foreigners from 25 countries, participate in the session.
The topic of the final meeting is “the World Order: New Rules or a Game without Rules”.
Putin will address the meeting and participate in the discussion. The president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said his participation would be "as usual".
Last year, the president attended the final meeting and answered questions of participants for several hours.
The club holds its working meetings behind closed doors, but then its members meet with reporters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kremlin administration chief of staff Sergei Ivanov and his first deputy Vyacheslav Volodin have participated in such discussions, and First Vice-Premier Igor Shuvalov is expected to address the meeting on Friday.
The meeting with Putin’s participation will be open, Peskov said.
The Kremlin press service said the meeting will sum up the results of the three days of work when “factors of erosion of the present system of institutions and the international law were analyzed.”
Experts said the conception of the club meeting this year was determined by “the radical changes of the situation in the world, the undermined system of the international law and the imposing of models of existence by some countries on others”. “It creates chaos that is constantly exported outside under the conditions of globalization and leads to degeneration,” specialists said. “A new world order is needed - honest, just and based on mutual respect for sovereignty and interests,” they said.