Peskov: “Westerners” themselves refused to attend the Valdai Forum

The decrease in the number of participants from Western countries at the international forum of the Valdai Club was due to the fact that they themselves refused to attend the event, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“Many Westerners refuse, deny themselves, the opportunity to receive first-hand information. Many simply cannot do this, they want to, but cannot do it under pressure, many are not allowed by their sponsors, their scientific institutions,” he explained.

At the same time, the Kremlin representative noted that in connection with current events, “the level of interest in this club from representatives of other directions is quite understandably increasing.”

“I mean Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Arab world, and so on. Therefore, there is still great interest, international interest, but, of course, the composition of the participants sometimes undergoes changes,” Peskov clarified.

Commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assessment of the past forum, Peskov noted that the president “continues to pay tribute to this forum as a very large platform.” “Where, in a truly free atmosphere, experts on our Russia, political scientists, former politicians one way or another receive first-hand information about what is happening here, what is our worldview, what is the position of representatives of the leadership and mainly the head of our state,” he added .

The meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club took place from October 2 to October 5 in Sochi. Putin spoke at the plenary session of the forum on October 5. The President noted that the colonial policy of the West is unacceptable for Russia, and the Russian Federation defines itself, as stated in the new foreign policy concept, as a unique civilization.