2009 Events
Ambassador Beyrle Focuses Attention on New “Residencies in Russia” Program
On August 27, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle visited St. Petersburg to show his support for the new “Residencies in Russia” Program. To mark the event, U.S. Consul General Sheila Gwaltney hosted a reception in honor of the program participants. After greeting all the guests, Ambassador Beyrle praised the program as the first of its kind to bring Americans to Russia with Russian funding. Organized by the Dimitri Likhachev Foundation and funded jointly by the President Boris N. Yeltsin Foundation and the City of St. Petersburg, the program has many U.S. partners including the Library of Congress’ Open World Program, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, CEC Arts Link, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), the Kennan Institute, and the U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg. The program targets U.S. professionals working on innovative projects related to Russian culture and history in order to help them inspire a greater interest in Russia among a broad American audience. Ambassador Beyrle’s presence drew a large crowd of local media to the event where he gave interviews to NTV, Radio Russia, Radio St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Vedomosti, and Nevskoe Vremya. During these interviews, the Ambassador stressed the importance of this new program for both our countries as it will play a part in “restarting” U.S.-Russian relations by deepening mutual understanding.