Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the 22nd meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club that the modern world is changing very quickly and often radically, which requires everyone to be ready for any developments, TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
"We have repeatedly noted that we live in a time when everything is changing very quickly. And it is changing, I would say radically. Of course, none of us is given the opportunity to fully foresee the future. But this does not cancel the obligation to be ready for everything that can happen," the Russian head of state emphasized. "In practice, as times have shown, we must be ready for everything possible. Everyone's responsibility in such historical periods is especially great: both for personal destiny, and for the fate of the country and the whole world", Putin added.
He pointed out that multipolarity has already taken shape in the modern world and it "determines the framework within which the state operates". "In practice, nothing is predetermined. Everything can develop in different ways. Much depends on the accuracy, precision, degree of restraint, thoughtfulness of the actions of each participant in international communication," the Russian president also said.
According to him, the multipolar space is vast and it is easy for a person to be mistaken about what is actually happening. "The opportunities and dangers of the multipolar world are inseparable from each other. The weakening of the dictates that characterized the previous period, the expansion of the space of freedom for all, of course, is undoubtedly a good thing," Putin continued.
He stressed that the attempts of Western countries "to control everyone and everything" lead to internal political tension and make citizens ask "what is all this for".
The Russian president recalled that in 1954 the USSR expressed its readiness to join NATO. Decades later - in 2000, Russia expressed the same desire, but was refused both times.