In 2001, then Chancellor Schröder and Russia’s President Putin launched the Petersburg Dialogue. Even before the attack on Ukraine, the talks come to a standstill, now the end is officially sealed.
The German-Russian Forum Petersburger Dialog, which promoted understanding between civil society in both countries, will be dissolved in early 2023. This was decided by the General Assembly at the request of the Executive Board, the Petersburger Dialog reports on its website. The justification is brief: “In view of the criminal war of aggression and the front line against Western democracies, a dialogue in this format is no longer possible,” it says, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The dissolution will take place in the first quarter of 2023 at an extraordinary general meeting, the Petersburger Dialog said. The forum had already ceased its activities before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After two member organizations of the Petersburg Dialogue in Russia, the association “German-Russian Exchange” and the think tank “Zentrum Liberale Moderne”, were classified as undesirable organizations in 2021, the board of directors on the German side canceled bilateral events.
The discussion forum was founded in 2001 by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. It was named after the first venue. In addition to annual meetings with representatives from politics, business, science and culture in both countries, numerous contacts were made at lower levels.
