On May 20–21, 2021, the city of Kazan hosts the Central Asian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled “Russia and Central Asia Facing the Challenges of the New World — A Joint Path to the Future.” The conference was opened by Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club; Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan; and Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation. The first session, titled “Russia and Central Asia After the Pandemic: How We Passed the Stress Test”, was moderated by Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club. Oleg Salagay, Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation; Anton Kozlov, Head of Foreign Projects and International Cooperation Department, JSC Russian Railways; Yerlan Karin, Aide to the President of Kazakhstan, Chairman of the Kazakhstan Council on Foreign Relations (CASMO); Oksana Sinyavskaya, Deputy Director, Institute for Social Policy, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Bakhtiyor Mustafaev, Deputy Director, International Institute of Central Asia; Kubatbek Rakhimov, Director, Center for Strategic Research “Eurasia”, Kyrgyz Republic; Former Advisor to Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, participated in the session.