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At the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin presented the report on the development of humanitarian cooperation with foreign countries at the state and public levels to promote objective historical and topical information about the Russian Federation, particularly its role in the victory over Nazism.

The discussion resulted in the approval of a set of measures proposed by the Foreign Ministry to step up work in international organisations and in bilateral contacts with foreign partners to provide objective information about Russia’s role in the victory over Nazism, and counteract attempts to rewrite history and the results of World War Two, glorify Nazism and propagandise neo-Nazism.

The Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Communications, Rossotrudnichestvo [Federal Agency for CIS Issues, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation] and the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the participation of public organisations, particularly veteran associations, have been instructed to draw up and approve a roadmap to implement the set of measures for 2017–2018.

Specifically, the instructions envisage interaction with foreign partners to take extra steps to identify, preserve and popularise cultural and historical monuments outside Russia that are related to Russia’s historical past, carry on work within the OSCE to finish elaborating a working definition of anti-Semitism, and submit a proposal to elaborate working definitions of intolerance and discrimination against Christians, and intolerance and discrimination against Muslims.

The Ministry of Communications has been instructed to promote the circulation in major media markets of Russian documentaries, feature films and series that provide objective information about Russia, including its role in the victory over Nazism.

The Defence Ministry, together with the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Culture, the Russian Military Historical Society and public search organisations, have been instructed to identify, establish contact with and encourage foreign public organisations engaged in searching for the graves of Russian and Soviet soldiers as well as work to honour their memory; and, together with the Federal Archive Agency, to finish providing the relevant internet resource with information about the losses and decorations of Russian soldiers, and about the main battles of 1914–1918, in time for the centenary of the end of WWI; as well as to continue work to certify and publish online information about Russian and Soviet soldiers’ graves abroad and those buried there.

The instructions to the Ministry of Education and Science concern international cooperation between universities to disseminate objective historical and current information about Russia among students, and the organisation of events dedicated to the history of World War Two involving young Russian and foreign teachers of history.

The instructions to the Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and Rossotrudnichestvo, envisage, specifically, the organisation of performances by Russian groups and individual artists at Victory Day events abroad; preparations for the celebrations of the 75^th anniversary of the Soviet victory over German troops in the Battle of Stalingrad; promotion of projects of the Russian Military Historical Society and foreign public organisations and activists to establish memorials, monuments and commemorative insignia, and the organisation of exhibitions dedicated to Russia’s military history and role in the victory over Nazism; the organisation of screenings of documentary and feature films abroad dedicated to Russia’s military history and the Soviet contribution to the victory over Nazism.

A number of ministries and agencies have received instructions on the implementation of government policy on war veterans and the inclusion in the programme of the 19^th World Youth and Student Festival (Sochi, October 2017) of events promoting youth cooperation to circulate objective historical and current information about Russia and its role in the victory over Nazism.

The Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Geographical Society and the Russian Military Historical Society have been advised to expand the range of events and projects implemented jointly with foreign partners to develop academic and expert contacts in history, and de-politicise historical research and academic discussions.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has been advised to issue commemorative coins in honour of renowned weapon designers and their inventions for the 75^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.