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The World Youth Festival (WYF) held in the Sirius Federal Territory between March 1 and 7 was attended by 20,000 delegates from 190 countries. The goal of the festival is to foster ties between proactive young people from all over the world, who will work together to build a future shared multipolar world based on cooperation and a balance of interests.

Before the ceremony, Vladimir Putin had a brief conversation with foreign participants of the festival who are studying in Russia.

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Address at the festival’s closing ceremony

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, dear friends,

I am sure that you are in a good mood today, but there is bound to be a tinge of sadness because you will be parting with those who have become your friends, your new friends.

When we were inviting you to come to Russia, we set ourselves the fairly simple tasks of creating conditions of freedom, creativity and friendship for you to interact with each other and meet new friends and possibly partners in your future projects. I hope that we succeeded. (Applause.) Thank you very much for this assessment.

However, you have done more than we expected. You have created a real city of world youth here, in the south of Russia. Thank you.

You are all so different. I look at you, and I can see what a diverse group you are. I have met just now with young people from different countries who are studying in Russia. They are all so different. So how did you manage to crate this city of world youth when you are so diverse? There must be something you all have in common. Today, in Russia we describe it as our traditional values. They form the foundation of our life, our existence. This means that there is something that unites us. And the first thing that comes to mind is that although we may look different – take the young people over there! Hello! – we may be different in appearance, skin colour and everything else, but there is something that brings us together. What is it? It is that all of us are human beings. And we are all equal.

If we are all equal, there is no place for anyone’s exclusivity in the world. There is no place for arrogance, segregation or other behaviours that stem from the distorted notion of someone’s exclusivity.

We are all equal from the moment we are born. We are equal from the moment when [we are born] thanks to our mother and father – and this is exactly how humans are born, there is no other way even with modern technology. It is always a male and a female parent.

By the way, many countries will soon be celebrating International Women’s Day. Let us applaud our women.

So, we are all born equal but the question is, do we grow and develop under equal conditions? The answer is, unfortunately, not. This is the greatest injustice in today’s world order.

If you ask me what can be done for everybody to live and to grow under equal conditions, unlocking their talents for the benefit of their loved ones, their family, their country and perhaps humanity as a whole, I do not know. But what I do know for certain is that we all must strive for it. Only by striving for it will we make the world more transparent, just, democratic, sustainable, balanced and safe.

Dear friends,

You have come to Russia and made many new friends. I want all of you to know that the entire Russia is now your friend. Our doors are always open for you and your noble intentions.

I believe you will achieve great success. One of this festival’s slogans is “We begin the future together.” Let us believe that this future has already begun. It depends on all of you what kind of future it will be.

I wish you the best. Be happy!