The Russian president has adressed policy makers and experts at the renowned forum where he has previously signaled key policy shifts

Russian President Vladimir Putin has completed a three-hour question and answers session following his address to the annual Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi. The renowned forum of Russia experts and policy makers met for the 22nd time, this year around the theme “The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use.” 

Among the subjects Putin touched upon in a 30-minute opening speech was that of multipolarity, a term that is increasingly being used to characterize Russia’s position on global governance.

“Multipolarity has already effectively taken hold in the world. There is no power, nor will there ever be, that can rule the world or dictate how everyone breathes. The West’s attempt to control everything is causing tension and undermining the internal stability of these countries,” Putin told the audience on Thursday.

Putin also lauded Russia’s resistance to the pressure of multiple rounds of Western sanctions, revealed he was willing to discuss joining NATO 25 years ago, pointed to states using a phantom 'threat' to distract their populations from domestic problems, and offered condolences to the family of murdered US influencer Charlie Kirk.

The Russian president has often used the Valdai Club to signal shifts in Moscow’s priorities or to convey new thinking on issues of national and global importance. Previous sessions have continued for up to three hours. 

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02 October 2025

19:22 GMT

Putin’s appearance at the Valdai forum plenary session concluded after nearly four hours. RT is wrapping up the live coverage, stay tuned for main highlights of the Russian president’s speech and Q&A session.

19:01 GMT

Moscow is “confident” about its “nuclear shield,” the president said, revealing that the country has been working on new hypersonic weaponry.

19:00 GMT

Russia has great respect for ancient cultures and civilizations, Putin has said.

“Our own civilization is over 1,000 years old, we have certain experience,” the president noted.

18:54 GMT

“Russian simpletons, former Soviet bureaucrats, and I myself thought that after the collapse of the USSR, we’d kiss the West on the lips – despite us following traditional values – and go live as one family. But no, nothing of the sort, it was a smokescreen,” Putin said.

18:40 GMT

Lukyanov touched upon the ongoing drone hysteria in the EU, jokingly asking the president why he had sent “so many drones to Denmark.”  

“I won’t send them anymore. I won’t send [drones] to France, or Denmark, or Copenhagen anymore. Where else do they fly? To Lisbon and wherever else they fly,” Putin said, suggesting that UFO hunters have now apparently switched to UAVs. 

On a more serious note, the president suggested the drone hysteria was a part of the campaign to drum up the “Russia threat” and justify hikes in military spending.

 

18:24 GMT

Joining NATO was a mistake for Sweden and Finland because both nations only lose the benefits their long-time neutral status had offered, Putin stated. Russia sorted out everything with Sweden during the battle of Poltava in the early 18th century, he noted.  

“Now what, Russia seeks to capture Helsinki? Or Stockholm?” he added.

18:20 GMT

 

 

READ MORE: Putin extends condolences to Charlie Kirk’s family

The Russian president has extended his condolences to the family of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The co-founder of the organization Turning Point USA, Kirk was shot to death on September 10 during a public event at a college in Utah.

“[Kirk's murder] is a sign of what happens, a deep rift in society. There is no need to escalate the situation from our side because the political leadership tries to set it straight in domestic policy. I think the the US is going this way,” Putin said.

18:16 GMT

US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles are “powerful,” but their potential delivery to Ukraine would not shift the “balance of power on the battlefield,” Putin has said. The move, however, is bound to damage Russia-US ties, he warned.

 

18:08 GMT

The EU used to be a “powerful civilizational center” but is now in decline, the Russian president said, invoking an assessment made by then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the early 1990s. 

“If Europe wants to remain one of the independent centers of world civilization, then it must be with Russia,” Kohl said at the time, as cited by Putin.

17:56 GMT

The Russian president accused France of “piracy” when asked about a recent raid on an oil tanker, alleged to be a vessel of a Russian “shadow fleet,” used to circumvent sanctions.  

“They were apparently looking for military cargo, drones, and other such things there. There is nothing of this kind there, there never was, and there cannot be,” he said.

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