(21 Sep 2000) Eng/Russ/Nat
A bronze statue of Alexander Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet, was dedicated Wednesday in a ceremony attended by U-S and Russian officials.
The nearly 10-foot tall statue is a gift from the city of Moscow.
The statue depicts the 19th century poet standing next to a pillar upon which sits a brightly gilded image of Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology that long has been regarded as the source of poetic inspiration.
Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbot said the event was a small but important symbol of the cooperation of the United States and Russia in the wake of the Cold War.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"There are obviously lots of tough issues between the United States and Russia. That's because there are lots of tough problems in the world today for which there are no easy or automatic answers. Secretary Albright, foreign minister Ivanov have based their work together on a very simple principal, which is that we are more likely to find the solutions to those problems if we work together."
SUPER CAPTION: Strobe Talbot, Deputy Secretary of State
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov presented the monument in a ceremony on the George Washington University campus near the White House that ended with champagne toasts after a blessing and the sprinkling of holy water by a Russian Orthodox priest.
Ivanov said Pushkin's poetry long has been a symbol of "the Russian national spirit."
Two centuries after the poet's birth, he said, it is becoming "an organic part of the global spiritual heritage."
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"His art is a national treasure of Russia, but also, far beyond the borders of my country, millions of people value this great poet for his unwavering fidelity to the ideals of beauty, freedom, patriotism and morals."
SUPER CAPTION: Igor Ivanov, Russian Foreign Minister
Pushkin, who was born in 1799, was a political reformist who admired George Washington and the American revolution.
Pushkin died in 1837 of wounds suffered in a duel.
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