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Russian Seasons in US unreasonable in 2019, 2020 — Putin's aide

"We could hold it in 2019 in France and in 2020 in Germany," he said

MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. It would be irrational to hold the Russian Seasons festival in the US in 2019 and 2020, Mikhail Shvydkoi, the Russian President’s special envoy for international cultural cooperation told reporters on Wednesday.

"I think it wouldn’t be rational to hold an action of this kind in the US in the current situation," he said. "The way I see it, we could hold it in 2019 in France and in 2020 in Germany."

He added that the Russian-French intergovernmental commission for science, culture and sports would meet in session in Paris on March 16.

"I’ll speak to my counterparts on the issue because this would be appropriate [to hold the Russia Seasons in France in 2019]," Shydkoi said.

He recalled that 2020 would mark the 75th anniversary since the end of World War II and a considerable part of cultural cooperation in Europe would be devoted to the date.

"In this context, it would make sense to devote the Russian Seasons in 2020 to the 75th anniversary, all the more so that Germany will have many other important events then," Shvydkoi said.

The Russian Seasons festival was held for the first time in Japan where it gathered more than 6.5 million spectators in 42 cities. In 2018, its venue is Italy.

The list of participants on the Russian side is expansive and includes the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters, the State Hermitage Museum, the Moscow Philharmonic Society Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra, the Yuri Nikulin Moscow Circus, and others.

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