Valdai Discussion Club. The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004. It was named after Lake Valdai, which is located close to Veliky Novgorod, where the club’s first meeting took place. The club’s goal is to promote dialogue between Russian and international intellectual elite, and to make an independent, unbiased scientific analysis of political, economic and social events in Russia and the rest of the world.. United States, Russia, European Union, China, Donald Trump, Middle East, economy, Syria, world order, Iran, Turkey, Vladimir Putin, Ukraine, North Korea, Valdai Discussion Club, conflict, United Kingdom, NATO, coronavirus, elections, sanctions, France, diplomacy, India, cooperation, BRICS, Brexit, South Korea, military, annual meeting, Andrey Bystritskiy, security, Fyodor Lukyanov, Eurasian Economic Union, Eurasia, Germany, Japan, Israel, terrorism, ISIS, trade war, Kim Jong-un, energy, Saudi Arabia, US-Russian relations, nuclear weapons, Asia, © Valdai Discussion Club, Emmanuel Macron, Afghanistan