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Russian-US forum Fort Ross Dialogue opens in Veliky Novgorod

The conference will be discussing the outlook for Russian-US cultural and business cooperation

VELIKY NOVGOROD, May 21. /TASS/. An international conference titled Fort Ross Dialogue opened in Veliky Novgorod on Monday. The conference will be discussing the outlook for Russian-US cultural and business cooperation.

Russia’s special presidential envoy for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi described Fort Ross as a symbol of "unity of Russians and Americans, which has retained its great relevance."

He said Russian-US relations today were living through a no easy period of "distrust, reproaches and senseless sanctions" and at such moments culture plays a tremendous role.

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"In this sense the Russian side and the American side display loyalty," Shvydkoi said.

The conference Fort Ross Dialogue will consist of three sessions: cooperation by Russian and US archives, cybersecurity and global energy problems. On the first day, the forum will discuss the outlook for wider cooperation between Russian and US museums and archives and the role of scientific and cultural institutions in strengthening mutual understanding between the people of the two countries. The delegates will exchange experience in using modern technologies in the museum and archive business.

The second day will be devoted to cooperation by Russia and the United States in cybersecurity and global energy. The delegates will be discussing risks for the energy sphere and likely mechanisms for struggle against threats in this field. Speakers will present Russian and American views on long-term development trends in the information and telecommunication space.

About the forum

The Fort Ross Dialogue forum in Veliky Novgorod will last two days to end on May 22. Taking part in the conference are Russia’s Deputy Digital Development Minister Aleksei Volin, CEO of the Fort Ross Conservancy Sarah Swidler, Novgorod Region’s governor Andrei Nikitin, heads of the companies Transneft, Chervon Neftegaz Inc., and Sovcomflot and leading international experts and media.

The Fort Ross Dialogue is an annual Russian-US forum which has brought together cultural workers, politicians, businessmen and experts since 2012. The first meeting in Russia took place in May 2017 in Pskov and Izborsk.

The international conference owes its name to Fort Ross, a Russian community in California in the 19th century. Fort Ross is now a history museum in a national park. The Fort Ross museum is a symbol of cultural and business cooperation between the two countries.

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