Meeting Russia - Day 2
On May 25th, Meeting Russia, the Russian Public Diplomacy program for young leaders, started for the fifth time. This time diplomats, analysts, journalists and social activists from the BRICS countries, the CIS member states, the EU, Latin America and South-East Asia gathered online.

The sponsor of the project is the Presidential Grants Fund, and the media partners are the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and the Project Office of the International Youth Cooperation "Russia-BRICS".
This time, Meeting Russia-2022 is a two-day program. DAY ONE was divided into three sessions. The 1st session was given to an expert discussion of the Russia-West relations in the new geopolitical reality. In the 2nd session, the participants analyzed the prospects of the Russian economy in the context of the anti-Russian sanctions. The 3rd session was a heated debate over the role of mass media in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

DAY TWO of Meeting Russia-2022 was opened by the speech of Hidetoshi Azuma, Vice President of Crypto Asset Central Bank Foundation and member of the Meeting Russia Alumni Club. Mr. Azuma was the moderator of the 1st session during which Yaroslav Lissovolik, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, and Evgeniy Preiherman, Director of the Minsk Dialogue Council on International Relations, spoke with other participants about the opportunities and challenges of the Eurasian Economic Union in the framework of the economic integration.

The moderator of the 2nd session was Pavel Kanevsky, Assistant Professor of the Department of Politics and Sociology of Political Processes, Sociology Faculty, the Moscow State University, who led the discussion of the policy of isolating Russia. The key speaker was Sergey Markedonov, leading research fellow of the Institute of International Studies (MGIMO) and Editor-in-Chief of the "Mezhdunarodnaya analitika" (Journal of International Analytics).

The experts spoke of the trends of the post-Cold War world order, expressed their opinions on the causes of the Russia-West confrontation, and discussed the possibility of isolating Russia in today's world. Other participants of the session were involved in the discussion. They shared their views on the policy of isolating and asked the experts questions about the "cancel culture" and about the possible political course of Russia after the conflict.

The 3rd session had been prepared together with the Project Office of the Russia-BRICS International Youth Cooperation. The moderator was Valeria Tchernogorodova, Head of Division of International Activities of the Department of Youth Projects and Programmes of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh). Invited speakers Artyom Fomin, an official from the Foreign Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Diana Kovela, Programme Director of the Project Office of the Russia-BRICS International Youth Cooperation, Yaroslav Lissovolik, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, and Valeria Gorbacheva, GR Director of the National Committee on BRICS Research, shared their expertise and experience with the participants of the session. The invited speakers gave an insight into the work of BRICS, told the audience about the interaction of Russian NGOs with BRICS and the prospects of cooperation among the five BRICS countries. Finally, the participants expressed their views on the future of BRICS.
Sergey Markedonov
Leading research fellow of the Institute of International Studies (MGIMO) and Editor-in-Chief of the "Mezhdunarodnaya analitika" (Journal of International Analytics).
Pavel Kanevsky
Assistant Professor of the Department of Politics and Sociology of Political Processes, Sociology Faculty, the Moscow State University
Yaroslav Lissovolik
Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club