Overview
- Organizers say the gathering includes 12 members of the European Parliament and more than 15 deputies from national legislatures across Europe.
- Bundestag member Steffen Kotré of the AfD arrived for the sessions after debate in Germany, with party leaders confirming he would be the sole delegate.
- Delegations from ruling parties in China, Brazil, Iran, Indonesia, Belarus, Algeria, Cuba, Cambodia, Ethiopia and South Africa are taking part alongside senior Russian figures Vladimir Yakushev and Boris Gryzlov.
- Panels are focused on rapprochement, new formats for dialogue in a multipolar world and ways to reduce political risks and revive channels between Russia and the EU.
- Before the opening, a prayer meeting at the Radisson Collection Sochi brought together parliamentarians from Europe, Russia and the Global South to call for peaceful resolutions to conflicts including in Ukraine and Gaza.