Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Western civilization, having abandoned traditional values, has lost its superiority on the world stage and has no right, as a minority, to impose its values on the rest of the world, Interfax reported.

"If Western elites believe that they can inculcate in the minds of their people, in their societies, some strange but trendy tendencies, such as dozens of gay pride parades, then so be it. Let them do whatever they want, but they certainly have no right to demand that others follow the same," Putin said at a Thursday session of the Valdai international discussion club.

As he noted, "It is the traditional societies of the East, Latin America, Africa and Eurasia that form the basis of world civilization."

"And respect for the peculiarities of peoples and civilizations is in everyone's interest, in fact, and in the interest of the so-called West. And losing its supremacy, it is quickly becoming a minority on the world stage," Putin stressed.