The cultural dialogue between Russia and Armenia will continue, regardless of the political disagreements between the two countries, as it is based on the ties between the peoples themselves.

Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Representative of Russian President on International Cultural Cooperation, who is visiting Armenia as part of the Russian-Armenian cultural exchange program, on Wednesday told this to reporters in Yerevan. “As long as the Russian people and the Armenian people exist, this dialogue will exist. No one will ask politicians, believe me,” Shvydkoy said, answering the question of whether Russia and Armenia manage to maintain cultural dialogue despite political upheavals. “

It does not depend on political clashes. It is the will of the people. I am confident that the will of the Russian people and here the will of the Armenian people coincide,” he added. Shvydkoy said that the cultural ties between the two countries are so closely intertwined that political disagreements cannot break them.

“The [Armenian and Russian] people’s contacts are so closely intertwined that I’m confident no political conflict, no matter how complicated, will separate us,” he said. Also, he called the cultural exchange between Russia and Armenia a “soul-to-soul message.”

“That is, in essence, the meaning of cultural exchange: soul to soul; from the soul of the Russian people to the soul of the Armenian people,” Shvydkoy added. He noted that this is why cultural events can have an extremely long-term impact than the events themselves. “They produce results even longer than the period during which they are held, because it is a soul-to-soul message,” he added.

Shvydkoy said that Russia is waiting for the visit of Armenian artists and cultural figures. “And I hope that the Days of Armenian Culture in Russia will be successfully held. And, by all accounts, this should happen this year,” he added.

At the same time, as Shvydkoy noted, the cultural exchange between the two countries is actually continuing all the time. “I always say that just as the Days of Russian Culture do not end in Armenia, so the Days of Armenian Culture do not end in Russia, (...),” said, in particular, the special representative of the Russian president.

The Days of Russian Spiritual Culture have started in Armenia, and they are held in Yerevan and Gyumri. Mikhail Shvydkoy also participated in the opening of the events.