Valdai Club

Putin is a self-sufficient and confident leader. This is both a positive and a negative. He has a systemic approach and a cohesive picture in his head that helps him orient himself in domestic affairs. These are his strong points as a politician.

It will be difficult to win the presidential election with United Russia in its current shape. Therefore, Putin understands that something has to be changed but doesn’t quite understand what.

Added to the uniqueness of the Valdai Club is its utter rarity—there isn’t a single political leader in the Western world that would endeavor to absorb the viewpoints of all sorts of foreign and domestic critics of all colors, including highly marginal groups.

“Putin did not hesitate to say that if America continues pursuing its missile defense plans in Europe, serious conflicts may arise in bilateral relations, but Russia is not afraid of this”

“Putin believes there is no need for more and more political parties in Russia, and instead Russia should move towards a model featuring several political forces with active internal discussions, a battle of views and primaries, bringing new leaders into politics”.

Putin has in many ways said all the right things, but even before you look at what he says, think about who he is. He has a lot of baggage and intelligence experience, a tough guy image, and he has the colorful personality to go along with those things. But fundamentally he is a competent manager.

The Skolkovo innovation city project will attract leading experts from around the world, and will help Russia’s scientific and engineering potential to reach the global market, experts announced at a round table meeting at RIA Novosti that was part of the eighth meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov does not rule out that United Russia may split into several different parties in the future and claims that Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov is quite content with his status as “an oppositional runner-up” who is afraid of victory.

The leader of the Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov rejected the Valdai Club’s proposal that they change the position of his party from communist to social democratic, calling it an attempt to eliminate traces of the communist ideology in the country.

The Russian prime minister rejected what he described as “alarmist scenarios” offered by the experts, who came from around the world to debate on Russia at the annual Valdai Discussion Club.