The production is in Russian with no English subtitles — but that’s the point. “We wanted to bring something bright to the Russian community in New York,” said promoter Anton Krylov. “The musical is for families that don’t want to lose their cultural ties.

Alena Adamkova, the Executive Director of the International Roerich Memorial Trust, has been decorated with the Russian order of Friendship for her contribution into the development of the Russian-Indian cultural ties. Slovakian Adamkova, who is a specialist in Indian Studies, lived for many years in the USSR and India.

Russia and Spain will have 2011 as their cross-cultural exchange year to host 700 events to boost mutual cooperation in science, education, culture and economics. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Spain started in 1667. The two nations have faced many hardships since then and it was not always easy to keep a high level of cultural cooperation.

Increasingly growing ties between Russia and Turkey continued this year, as cooperation and partnership in the energy sector became dominant themes in the programs of both countries. While Moscow has skillfully taken advantage of Turkey’s desire to become an energy hub through signing energy deals with its southern neighbor in recent years, rivalry continues in both countries’ backyard, the volatile South Caucasus.

I posted a short comment that a website devoted to public diplomacy, with a name that implies that it represents the views of the entire American government and the American public, should try to present a more balanced perspective and mention some of the difficulties in getting the U.S.-Russian agreement approved by the Senate.

Cultural exchange was an important part of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s agenda during his visit to the city. On Wednesday, he met a delegation of filmmakers at Yash Raj Films Studio in Andheri. The idea was to encourage and improve cultural relations with Bollywood.

Turkey’s use of “soft power” among the 250,000 Gagauz living in the former Soviet space...represents a growing threat to Russian interests not just in Moldova but across the entire Black Sea region, according to a Russian analyst.

The strategic nuclear arms treaty passed a key procedural hurdle on Tuesday when the Senate voted to bring the weapons pact between the United States and Russia to the floor of the Senate for a final vote.