The 2004 Valdai conference was attended by Russian president
Vladimir Putin. Among many other Russian Government officials attending Valdai meetings are
Dmitry Medvedev, former Prime Minister and former president;
Sergey Ivanov, former Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office;
Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs;
Sergey Shoygu, former Minister of Defence. The club also operates regional programmes – Asian, Mid-Eastern and Euro-Atlantic Dialogues. It holds a special session at the
St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the
Eastern Economic Forum.
Stanislav Zas, Secretary-General of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization spoke at Valdai in February 2022.
Daniel W. Drezner, professor of international politics at the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at
Tufts University, described Valdai as "a swanky high-level conference put on by the Russian elite" and "the highest-profile Russian equivalent to
Davos (minus the corporate presence)". Drezner also wrote that the chief value to attendees is the ability to determine the official line of the Russian government, although attendance also risks "greater legitimacy on a government that has been accused of some less-than-legitimate activities as of late." Marcel H. Van Herpen wrote that Valdai was a
soft power effort by the Kremlin in service of Russian foreign policy goals, with Russian leadership using the conference in a bid to gain goodwill among Western intellectuals, create networking opportunities between Russian and Western elites, and "create a testing ground for the Kremlin's foreign policy initiatives."
Angus Roxburgh wrote that
RIA Novosti was important to the establishment of Valdai during Putin's second term, and that the conference plays a key role in the Russian government's effort to burnish Putin's image and influence outsiders. British journalist
Angus Roxburgh described it as part of the
Russian propaganda effort. The Valdai Discussion Club Foundation has been sanctioned in connection with Russia's aggression against Ukraine, by Ukraine and by Canada. In
John Mearsheimer's 2023 book
How States Think, the preface acknowledges him receiving a small financial support from Valdai in conjunction with Best Book award for his 2019 book
The Great Delusion. == Annual meetings ==