"More to us than bears and vodka..."

(Interfax) - Moscow, September 12, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate believes Russian and American people lack all-round knowledge about each other and urges to do away with it.

"Mass media of the two countries should tell more about culture, religion, values and every day life of both nations. People should understand: Russia is not only the Kremlin, bears and vodka, while America is not only the White House, coca-cola and Hollywood," deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said speaking at a Moscow conference US - Russia Relations: the Way Forward.

American University in Moscow and the Institute of Socio-Political Research of Russian Academy of Sciences organized the event.

Fr. Vesevolod urged all the participants to commemorate the USA tragedy of September 11 and victims of the recent conflict in the Caucasus, including soldiers-peacekeepers, peaceful citizens of South Ossetia and Georgian districts.

According to the priest, not only elites should conduct a dialogue, but also nations of the two countries, people of Russia and America "should get acquainted with each other beyond the context of political news and mass culture. Secondary schools, higher educational establishments, mass media and culture should work for it and get support from state structures."

"To preserve and develop good relations between Russia and the USA it is necessary to conduct honest dialogue among politicians and elites in general. The dialogue shouldn't focus only on political and economical components of our relations and local conflicts, it must touch upon the question of values as well," the Russian Church representative stressed.

According to him, both Russia and America "offer their values to the world as neither of them can remain isolated."

"Both of us offer our model of society and our peculiarities of political culture to other nations. These peculiarities may contradict one another. We should honestly admit such contradictions and settle the conditions for civilized competition of ideas and values," Fr. Vsevolod said.