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Petersburg Dialogue members approve decision to dissolve forum by majority vote

In November 2022, platform participants came to the conclusion that "dialogue with the Russian Federation is now impossible" against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine

BERLIN, April 21. /TASS/. The general meeting of members of the German-Russian public forum St. Petersburg Dialogue finally approved the 2022 decision to dissolve the platform, according to a press release published on Thursday.

"The St. Petersburg Dialogue members meeting today supported the dissolution by 32 votes, five voted against and one abstained," the release said.

On November 22, 2022 it became known that the forum, created in 2001 at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin and then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, will terminate its work in the first quarter of 2023. Forum participants then concluded that "dialogue with the Russian Federation is now impossible," given the situation in Ukraine.

The meeting of members has now formally approved this decision.

The St. Petersburg Dialogue was created with the goal of establishing a long-term and open exchange of views between politicians, scientists, cultural figures, and representatives of business and civil society from the two countries. Once a year, they used to meet alternately in Germany and Russia to discuss interaction in different spheres. The last time such an event took place about three years ago in Bonn.

The St. Petersburg Dialogue has been losing its importance and relevance lately as relations between Moscow and Berlin have deteriorated.

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