The format of the event is mainly offline. 140 participants gathered in Krasnaya Polyana, of which 65 were foreign representatives. More than 150 representatives plan to participate in the remote format, including 60 foreign ones - from Australia, Argentina, Afghanistan, Brazil, Great Britain, Germany, Iran, China, Malaysia, the USA, Turkey and Japan. They will have the opportunity to fully participate in the discussion.
As the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov reported, Vladimir Putin will take part "in a covid-in-person format", but at the same time with the presence of media representatives at the event. Among the Russian participants is also Assistant to president Maxim Oreshkin.
The main theme of the upcoming meeting of the Valdai Club is «Global Shake-up - XXI: People, Values, State».
"There are many contradictory trends in world development now, there is something to talk about with Russian and foreign experts on this authoritative platform. The Minister will share his Russian vision of key aspects of the development of the international situation, as well as, according to tradition, will answer the questions of the conference participants", - said the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova.
In total, 7 thematic sessions and 4 special ones are planned. Among the topics of the meeting announced by the organizers are the issues of freedom and closed societies in the world, intelligence and the international struggle for technological primacy. Club members will also talk about Russian politics in the light of international efforts to combat climate change. Given the ongoing pandemic, the organizers did not ignore the topic of human life in the era of coronavirus, the situation with which in Russia has recently deteriorated. It will not do without acute and topical regional issues, such as Afghanistan and the country's development prospects after the Taliban came to power, as well as Russian-European relations.