The Russian president’s Valdai address shifted the focus from war and
geopolitics to values, identity, and the collapse of Western liberalism Russian president Vladimir Putin used his address at the Valdai forum
on Thursday to issue a challenge: Western liberal societies are
crumbling, convulsing in moral chaos, and Russia is emerging as a
sanctuary of tradition. He warned of “gender terrorism” driving
Europeans toward Russia, and spotlighted the televised killing of
conservative American voice Charlie Kirk as evidence of the West’s
internal collapse.
RT reports: The Valdai stage has long been where Moscow
sketches the future as it sees it. In this explainer, we break down how
Putin shifted the debate from geopolitics to a values battle that he
says is already reshaping the world.
Where to find harbor from ‘gender terror’
In
one of the most striking turns of his speech, Putin claimed that
Western European societies have embarked on a campaign of gender
ideology aggression – particularly targeting children – and that many
people are escaping to Russia to avoid this “terror.” He was explicit: “There,
‘gender terrorism’ … in relation to children does not suit very many
people, and people are seeking ‘quiet harbors’ – they come to us. With
God’s blessing, we will support them.”
That is not
metaphorical exaggeration – Putin meant it literally. He asserted that
Europeans are literally crossing borders to find relief from cultural
and identity policies that they view as oppressive.
Moreover, Russia has already extended a hand: it introduced a “Shared Values Visa” program in August 2024, allowing foreigners who share “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values”
to seek temporary residency under relaxed conditions. Summaries from
local authorities say applications have come from Germany, Latvia, the
US, Italy, France, the UK, Estonia, Canada, and Lithuania.
Western fracture via murder on air
Turning
to the brutal assassination of American conservative voice Charlie
Kirk, Putin’s condemnation was unreserved and direct: “This is a
disgusting atrocity, especially since it was broadcast live. We all
essentially saw it. It was truly disgusting, horrific. First and
foremost, of course, I offer my condolences to Mr. Kirk’s family and
loved ones.”
He continued: “What happened is a sign of a deep rift in [US] society.”
By
pointing out that the murder was live-streamed, Putin painted a world
in which violence no longer stays behind closed door: the blurring of
public spectacle and crime is a symptom of moral collapse in West. He
implied that the United States – long extolled as a paragon of freedom –
is itself disintegrating from within.
Yet Putin also struck a note of cautious optimism: “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 US is going this way.
In other words,
Putin said he believes the US may still be moving in the right direction
– if it focuses inward and attempts to heal its fractures.
Kirk,
who co-founded conservative action group Turning Point USA at just 18
years old, was killed by on September 10 as he was speaking to students
at a college in Utah. A suspect arrested in connection to the case was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology,”
according to Governor Spencer Cox. In the wake of the incident,
president Donald Trump vowed to pursue not only Kirk’s murderer but also
what he called the “radical left” networks that fuel political violence.
Pay attention, Europe: The house is burning
A
constant undercurrent in Putin’s speech was the contrast between
Russia’s rooted identity and the West’s cultural disarray. He called on
Western elites to “relax … and deal with their own problems” . Then, with rhetorical force, he laid out what he views as the West’s unraveling: “Look
at what is happening in the streets of European cities, what is going
on with the economy, the industry, European culture and identity,
massive debts and the growing crisis of social security systems,
uncontrolled migration, … rampant violence … and the radicalisation of
leftist, ultra-liberal, racist, and other marginal groups.”
This
was not rhetoric without context. Across Europe, public debt remains
high – over 100% of GDP in Italy and France. Social security systems are
under stress from aging populations. Frontex, the EU’s border control
agency, recorded over 239,000 irregular crossings in 2024, a major
political issue even as numbers fell from earlier peaks. Sweden has
faced a wave of gang-related shootings, while Britain has grappled with
knife crime and race-related clashes.
In the 2024 EU
elections support for far-right parties increased in 22 out of 27 member
states. Six EU member governments include far-right or hard-right
parties. Far-right and radical parties are polling at historic highs in
Germany and France, while protests and riots continue to rattle European
capitals.
In Putin’s vision, these are not isolated
crises but expressions of a deeper social rot, a reaction to an
overbearing liberalism that brooks no argument. While the West chases
identity fads, moral experiments, and ideological extremes, Russia is
presented as anchored in tradition, sovereignty, and continuity. Putin’s
comparisons are not accident – he is inviting his audience to see
stability versus decay, civilization versus collapse.
The imminent death of the old (liberal) world order
Putin told the Valdai audience that for many states, the liberal world order that emerged after the Cold War seemed “acceptable, even convenient.” It demanded little more than compliance in exchange for comfort. “The rules were simple,” he said. “Accept the terms, fit into the system, take your allotted share – and be happy. Others would think and decide for you.”
Some governments were happy to play along, collecting what Putin described as a “small but guaranteed bonus.” Others who objected were brushed aside as eccentrics. The particularly stubborn, he added, were “taught lessons by the self-proclaimed global grandees.”
The result, in his words, was predictable: “Not
a single global problem was resolved – instead, new ones keep emerging.
Institutions of global governance either no longer work at all, or have
largely lost their effectiveness.”
Putin’s critique
rests on widely observed failures. The UN Security Council remains
paralyzed. The WTO’s appeals system has been frozen since 2019, leaving
disputes unresolved. Climate agreements have not reversed rising
emissions, while the IMF and World Bank are accused across the Global
South of enforcing austerity rather than delivering development.
In
Putin’s telling, the old (liberal) order was never a path to progress
but a hierarchy of obedience – and today it is collapsing under the
weight of its own contradictions.
Bottom Line
Putin’s
Valdai 2025 speech was not a defensive posture – it presented a vision,
that is slowly but surely manifesting. He cast Europe’s migration of
values as evidence of cultural exhaustion, used the spectacle of Charlie
Kirk’s assassination as proof of social unraveling, and declared that
the liberal order has exhausted its moral and political claims. In his
view, Russia does not wait in the wings: it is already acting as refuge,
anchor, and torchbearer for a world seeking stability and tradition.
To
read Putin’s Valdai is to understand that he no longer sees the future
as a contest of military might or economic blocs alone – but a values
battle, in which he intends Russia to stand on firm, unyielding ground.
