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Earlier in the day, the President held a meeting on supporting talented young people in the arts and a meeting with the Mariinsky Theatre’s board of trustees.

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Speech at a meeting with Russian and foreign cultural figures

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: I would like to welcome you and thank you for your interest and attention to Russian art.

We are truly proud of our art and our professionals in the art world. But I would like to welcome you not just as guests of today's event, but also as outstanding figures of world culture. We are particularly glad that you come to us regularly and have joint projects with your colleagues that you not only generate but also carry out together with your colleagues in the Russian art world.

I probably do not need to say much about how important it is, how it unites people, how it helps us all to build the modern world, which should be based, above all, on humanistic principles. Who, if not you, can and must do this?

It is particularly gratifying that you do not confine yourselves to your national quarters. You work as citizens of the world in the fullest sense of the term. I want to thank you for this and, once again, to cordially welcome you to St Petersburg, which, without a doubt, is also an object of our pride.

Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and the world. We rightfully call it the cultural capital of our country. It is so great that cultural figures from all over the world have gathered here for the sixth time in order to talk about how the modern world lives and breathes, to think together about what it should look like in the near future and what needs to be done together to achieve that.

Let me again thank you for your participation in today's event. Thank you very much!

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