Valdai Discussion Club
The Valdai Discussion Club is an international think tank and annual policy forum established in 2004 in Russia, founded jointly by RIA Novosti, the Russia Today media group and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). It convenes Russian and foreign academics, policymakers and analysts each year to debate questions of international politics, security and global economics, and publishes widely cited reports and monographs. Its annual plenary session, typically opened by the President of Russia, has made the club one of the most prominent venues for discussion of Russian foreign policy.
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Valdai Discussion Club moved from Sochi to Moscow Oblast over Ukrainian drone threat
The annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting, traditionally held in Sochi each autumn, has been relocated to Moscow Oblast because of security concerns linked to intensified Ukrainian drone attacks, the Financial Times reported, citing four sources. About 120 invited participants learned in August that the venue had changed, after initially receiving invitations to Sochi; the forum is scheduled for 28 September to 1 October.