"One of this year's most anticipated cultural events - the finals of the revived Intervision International Music Contest - will take place today ... Culture and music have no borders. Today’s gala is to show the uniting power of art," Putin said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaking after the president praised the revival of the Intervision 2025 song contest, calling it an important and timely initiative.
"The idea was great ... It is obvious to us there was a demand for this kind of competition," Lavrov said on the sidelines of the show finals.
Russia initially offered its BRICS partners to take part in the contest, the top diplomat also said.
"When we informed our partners about this competition, the majority of them responded positively. Then, the news spread throughout the world, and countries that are geographically far from BRICS decided to nominate their participants as well," Lavrov added.
Intervision is taking place at Moscow's Live Arena on September 20. Russia is represented by singer Shaman, while composer and producer Igor Matvienko serves on the contest’s jury panel.