Putin Reads Excerpt from Pushkin's Poem at Valdai Plenary Session

During the plenary session of the 22nd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin read an excerpt from a poem by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The president stated that he was impressed by Pushkin's lines about the Battle of Borodino, which remain relevant today.

“The blood of Slavs is intoxicating for them, but they will suffer greatly from the headache,” the Russian leader read.

Putin noted that many in the West cannot tolerate Russia's existence and wish to partake in the country’s strategic defeat. He also confessed that he has a volume of Alexander Pushkin on his table at home, in which he enjoys diving into and feeling how “people live, what they breathe, and what they think.”