“Elbe Spirit” International Forum decided to create a Movement of Descendants of the participants of the Elbe Meeting

The International Public Forum "Elbe Spirit: Humanitarian Dialogue and Memory as a basis for cooperation" was held on April 24, 2026 at the Moscow headquarters of the World Peoples Assembly. The landmark event brought together government officials, parliamentarians, diplomats, experts and public figures from Russia and abroad who are interested in preserving the historical memory of the Second World War and developing international dialogue in modern conditions. The Forum organizers are the World Peoples Assembly, the NGO "Divo – One Future" and the Academy of International Cooperation.

Moderators:

Andrey Belyaninov - Secretary General of the World Peoples Assembly (Russia);

Valery Ruzin – Deputy Secretary General of the World Peoples Assembly (Russia).

– The meeting on the Elbe is a great event in the life of our countries, in the lives of the American and Russian peoples. It was a great example to the whole world of how to win and fight Nazism together, and how good should overcome evil," - said Andrei Belyaninov, Secretary General of the World Peoples Assembly, opening the event.

The speaker outlined the goals of the Forum as the creation of an authoritative international platform for the development of trust and cooperation between countries based on the historical experience of alliance, as well as modern practices of public and parliamentary diplomacy.

The participants observed a minute of silence in memory of the founder of the Forum, Soviet physicist, publicist and public figure Eduard Lozansky, who made significant efforts to maintain dialogue between Russia and the United States.

Further discussions (online, offline and in the format of a video message) were attended by:

·        Maria Zakharova – Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation;

·        Andrey Kartapolov – Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense;

·        Joseph Wolff - Son of Joseph Polowsky, participant of the Elbe Meeting (1945) (USA);

·        Natalia Koneva – President of the Victory Commanders Memorial Foundation, public figure;

·        Vladimir Kuznetsov - Director of the United Nations Information Center in Moscow;

·        Peter Kuznik - Professor at the American University in Washington and Paris, DC (USA);

·        Ute Kollies – Retired UN Diplomat (Austria);

·        Oleg Artemyev – Hero of the Russian Federation, cosmonaut pilot;

·        Marilyn Heib – President of NGO "Live Peace", public figure (opera singer), (Germany) (online);

·        Elena Branson - Founder of the NGO "Together with Russia";

·        Glenn Diesen - Professor of political Science at the University of Southeastern Norway (Norway).;

·        Matthew Ehret – Journalist (Canada);

·        Harley Schlanger– Vice President of the Schiller Institute, Political Analyst (USA);

·        Nikita Anisimov– First Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects and Support for Veterans;

·        Norie Huddle – Writer, researcher, public figure (USA);

·        Ray McGovern - Former analyst at the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), co–founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).;

·        Édouard Husson – Historian, professor, public figure (France);

·        Alexander Waldman – Journalist, blog author (Israel);

·        Rohini Hak – Founder of HopeBlit, film producer, screenwriter, public figure (India-USA);

·        Peter Müller – Public figure (Germany);

·        Gerd Brooks – Public figure (Germany);

·        Vladimir Shteryanov – Screenwriter, director, producer (Bulgaria);

·        Joseph Korson – Entrepreneur (USA);

·        Grigory Pelman – President of NGO "Divo – One Future" (Israel);

·        Alain Eisenstein-Blachon - Entrepreneur, founder of Orpheo Group, winemaker (France);

·        Liu Cixin – Science fiction writer (China);

·        Côte Carpentier de Gourdon – Geopolitical analyst, publicist, expert in international relations (France);

·        Valery Gugnin – Public figure, entrepreneur (Russia);

·        Jurgen Schreiber – Public figure (Germany);

·        Gunnar Jütte - Journalist, publisher and founder of the online publication Russland.news (russland.RU) (Germany);

·        Pavel Tarasov -Director of the Academy of International Cooperation (Russia)

and many others.

Andrey Kartapolov set the tone for the discussion, noting:

– Sooner or later, the current turbulence will end, and Russia will enter a new stage of development, where it will have to rebuild relations with the West. And understanding how our great ancestors did it will allow us to competently build this interaction.

He also reminded the audience that countering the falsification of history is one of the most important activities of the Russian leadership in recent years.

– Since 2014, a total of 19 laws have been adopted aimed at preserving historical memory, and 8 of them - in 2025. For example, last session the State Duma adopted a law on perpetuating the memory of the victims of the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In the current spring session, a law was supported amending the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and regulating liability for the destruction, damage, and desecration of graves of that period.

A lot of work to preserve historical truth is being done within the Union State, the CSTO, and the CIS. This is a difficult, painstaking job, necessary for the sake of the future of all mankind.

Maria Zakharova noted in her video message:

– Despite the changes in the political situation, we do not forget our allies, friends and brothers. We will always pay tribute to the courage and valor of our comrades in arms, the comrades of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

Our younger generation learns about those events from the documentary evidence of the participants. This means that traditions are preserved and passed on. Like the oath of the veterans of the meeting on the Elbe, solemnly given in 1985. With the passing of the great generation of winners, its text is perceived as a spiritual testament that does not lose its relevance.

On behalf of the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, I would like to thank the World Peoples Assembly for the development of the Elbe Spirit project. I am sure that the initiative to create an Association of descendants of the participants of the meeting and their friends will find wide support on both sides of the ocean, and the oath I mentioned will become its program.

Joseph Wolfe, in his speech to the Forum participants, emphasized:

– The participants of the meeting on the Elbe did not speak the same language, did not have a common worldview. And yet they found a common language to achieve a common goal. This is the very essence of diplomacy, the ability to find unity in diversity. When we honor the day of that meeting, let's see it not as a relic of history, but as a guide to the future. It reminds us that peace is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of cooperation.

Natalia Koneva also added in her video message:

– The descendants of those who met on the Elbe remember this day as part of our great history. This concerns not only in Russia, but also other countries where people remember that fascism is evil, and their fathers, grandfathers, and great–grandfathers did everything to defeat this evil. Maybe they're not physically with us right now, but I'm sure that on such a memorable day, our hearts are still beating in unison. And I would like to see us shake hands in person, not online, as the Russians and Americans once did on the Elbe.

Vladimir Kuznetsov spoke in his speech about the UN mission in matters of preserving peace:

– The past eight decades of the UN's existence clearly show that ideas live longer than political regimes, and values are able to withstand the most severe tests. The United Nations was born as the fruit of the agreement and cooperation of predominantly great powers, victorious powers, and its potential can be fully realized only in an environment of mutual understanding and mutual respect between states. Today, it must be respected by all States. It is necessary to give a clear, unambiguous answer to the question of how to bring back to the international stage the spirit of victorious 1945, the spirit of the Elbe, the spirit of Yalta, the spirit of Postdam. This is what the entire international community is interested in. It is necessary to prevent the critical accumulation of negativity in international relations, which sooner or later can trigger a chain reaction of destructive processes. With a final stop, quite likely, in a worldwide cataclysm. Logic dictates that the first step on this difficult path remains for the powers that created the United Nations and, at the dawn of its existence, demonstrated to the whole world their ability to achieve mutual understanding and agreement on the most pressing global issues, despite the fact that the deepest ideological dividing lines existed between them.

Peter Kuznik spoke in detail about the events of the Second World War as Americans saw them in those years, adding:

– We thank the millions of Soviet soldiers who fought and who died in this war.… The world is currently missing the voice of a man like Eduard Lozansky, the voice of peace that 90% of people actually aspire to. All wars must be stopped as soon as possible. We cannot accept any wars. Now is the time for peace, diplomacy and peaceful development.

Oleg Artemyev shared his experience of cooperation with colleagues from other countries while working on the ISS:

– The experience of space activities clearly shows that cooperation is not an abstract category, but a practical necessity. Representatives of different countries working on the ISS always act as a single unit, a single team, a single crew. Only by joining forces can we solve any tasks that go beyond the capabilities of individual States. And this logic of interaction is fully consistent with the ideas of today's Forum, which is designed not only to preserve historical memory, but also to form modern mechanisms of international dialogue. I am confident that today's Forum will become a platform for a meaningful exchange of views, strengthening partnerships and developing new approaches to the development of humanitarian cooperation.

The cosmonaut also stressed the importance of the Assembly’s activity on the establishment of historical memory:

– The preservation of historical memory is the most important foundation for shaping sustainable humanitarian ties between countries.

Édouard Husson drew the attention of audience to the historical significance of the Elbe meeting. In his opinion, the political situation has been deteriorating in recent years:

– For the third time in 120 years, the German government is ready to destroy its own country for the sake of a war against Russia. 

Norie Huddle called on the Forum participants to create a new movement “Elbe Spirit – Today” together with the descendants of the participants of the meeting on the Elbe.

The outcome of the event was a spirit of unity among participants from 10 countries. More than 200 people present online and offline joined the "Oath of Veterans of the meeting on the Elbe", adopted on April 25, 1985 in Torgau (GDR). This oath becomes the program of a new movement.

We, Soviet and American war veterans, gathered today, forty years after the historic meeting of the allied Soviet and American troops on the Elbe, reaffirm our commitment to the oath given by our comrades in arms on April 25, 1945: to dedicate our lives to strengthening friendship between the peoples of the USSR and the United States in the name of never again wars.

During the Second World War, humanity paid 50 million human lives for the Nazis' attempts to achieve world domination. Reminding the whole world of this harsh historical lesson at a time when international tensions have reached a dangerous fever pitch, we once again resolutely advocate ensuring the primary right of all peoples to live in peace, ending the arms race and preventing a war that could lead to the destruction of human civilization.

Being true to the "Elbe Spirit", we firmly believe that we must:

·        honor the memory of the dead;

·        renew and reaffirm our friendship;

·        preserve the friendship born on the Elbe forever;

·        make efforts for better mutual understanding and contribute to easing tensions between our two peoples.;

·        strive to achieve reductions in both conventional and nuclear weapons;

·        work hard for the cause of mutual respect between our peoples and other peoples of the world.

Now there is no other alternative but to live in peace! Therefore, we, American and Soviet war veterans, in the name of the memory of those who fell on the battlefields and passed away and on behalf of their descendants, today call on all honest people to block the way to war!

"Yes!" — to friendly meetings and negotiations to resolve all controversial issues. "No!" to the war. "No!" to the war.

More information is on the official website of the World Peoples Assembly and at media@world-assembly.org.

Photo: archive 1 (Ali Fattyakhutdinov), archive 2 (Anastasia Burmeister), archive 3 (Vitaly Burmeister).