A deterioration is felt in the relations between Moldova and Russia and culture is the key that can help normalize them. The relations must be maintained by intense communication and a healthy dialogue, said participants in the Chisinau – Moscow videoconference organized before the Russian Culture Days in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. “I was in Moldova on a two-month internship in 1983 and had the possibility of learning about the culture and history of this country. The people impressed me. Now my son knows practically nothing about the Moldovans and their culture,” said Alexei Vlasov, director general of the Information Analytical Center for the Study of Sociopolitical Processes in the Post-Soviet Area. People’s artist of Moldova Constantin Moscovici said the cultural dialogue between Moldova and Russia during the past 20 years has been less intense than in the Soviet period. “The Russian Culture Days in Moldova and the Moldovan Culture Days in Russia are of a great importance for the people as they will be able to learn the new cultural trends,” he stated. First deputy head of the Culture Committee of the Russian State Duma Elena Drapeko stressed that both Moldova and Russian have changed during the last 20 years. “The Moldovans remember the Russian culture of the past, but they should have the possibility of knowing the contemporary culture and its trends,” she said. According to Ekaterina Seleznyova, head of the International Cooperation Department of the Russian Ministry of Culture, the cultural cooperation agreement signed by Moldova and Russia is close to expiration. “The three-year agreement was signed in 2008 and expires this year. We sent a new cooperation agreement to the Ministry of Culture of Moldova and indicated there all the cultural events and festivals in which we want Moldovan people of culture to take part,” she said. The head of the Representative Office of “Rossotrudnichestvo” in Moldova Valentin Rybitski said the program of the Russian Culture Days in Moldova includes a lot of activities that will be organized in Chisinau and a number of districts. Groups of Russian artists will go on a tour of Moldova. The Russian Culture Days in Moldova will take place between September 20 and 26.