SOCHI, November 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the stereotyped ideas of the existence of the developed world, as represented by the "civilized West" and the barbarism of other peoples essentially racist, because inequality always leads to bad consequences.

"Over several centuries, the Western-centric world has developed some cliches, stereotypes, a kind of hierarchy: there is the developed world, progressive humanity and some universal civilization to which all should aspire, and there are backward, uncivilized peoples. Barbarians. Their business is to listen to what they are being told from the outside and act on the instructions of those who supposedly stand above these peoples in the civilizational hierarchy," he said at the Valdai Discussion Club’s plenary session.

Putin called this a kind of "cover for a crude colonial approach, for the exploitation of the world majority."

"The trouble is that this essentially racist ideology has taken root in many minds, and this is also a serious mental obstacle to universal harmonious development," he emphasized.

The most harmful thing in today's world is to look down on others, Putin went on to say.

"The most harmful, destructive thing that manifests itself in today's world is arrogance, the attitude of looking down on someone, the wish to endlessly and obsessively lecture others. Russia has never done this. It is not inherent to this country. We see that our approach is productive. Historical experience irrefutably shows that inequality, be it in society, in the state, or in the international arena, is bound to lead to bad consequences," Putin warned.

He added that a sustainable international order can be based only on the principles of sovereign equality. "The peculiarity of the modern world, closely connected and holistic, is precisely that states - not the most powerful and large - often play even a greater role than the giants, at least because they are able to use their human, intellectual, natural and environmental potential in a more rational and purposeful way. They have a flexible and reasonable approach to solving complex issues, set high standards in the quality of life, in ethics, in the effectiveness of management, in creating opportunities for self-realization of everyone, in creating conditions for a favorable psychological climate in society for the triumph of science, entrepreneurship, art, and creativity, and for discovering young talented people," he said. Putin sees these as new factors of global influence.