Gergiev called for the revival of cultural exchanges between Russia and the United States

Cultural exchanges between Russia and the United States should resume again, and Moscow is ready to continue strengthening ties. This was stated on June 4 by People's Artist of the Russian Federation, conductor Valery Gergiev at the session "Russia — USA: Dialogue of Cultures" at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026).

He noted that the dialogue between the two cultures until 1987 was always interrupted against the background of political events in the world. In the 1960s, it was the Vietnam War, and in the late 1970s, the events in Afghanistan began.

"And cultural exchanges have always been prohibited. Something is happening in a third country — Americans and Russians should not communicate. Something else happens in five to ten years – cultural exchanges are closed again. And I am in favor of us being not the discoverers, but the rediscovers of such an exchange," Gergiev said.

The conductor pointed out that, on the one hand, the United States and Russia are currently separated, but on the other hand, they are still connected by a bridge that obliges us to find ways to interact. He himself is well acquainted with American concert venues — both the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Lincoln Center in New York, on the stages of which he has performed more than once.

"Too much has been done by our great predecessors, and it is our duty and duty to continue this," Gergiev said.

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Rodney Mims Cook Jr., Chairman of the American Commission on Fine Arts, founder and president of the National Monuments Fund of the United States, said on June 3 that he had received permission to come to Russia and attend the SPIEF not only from the US State Department, but also from President Donald Trump. He added that when he visited the center, he felt a strong cultural connection between the two countries. Cook Jr. explained this with similar religious values. According to him, this can help unite people in the modern world.