Russia and US to Play Friendly Ice Hockey Match in Moscow

ST. PETERSBURG, June 4. /TASS/. Russia and the United States will play a friendly ice hockey match in Moscow on July 1, AmCham Russia President and CEO Robert Agee said on Thursday.

Speaking at the 'Russia-US: Dialogue of Cultures' panel discussion within the framework of the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Agee stated that he was happy to announce that Russia and the US would play a friendly ice hockey match to celebrate the 250th anniversary of US Independence.

He added that the match will be played in Moscow on July 1 and hoped that it would provide for "thawing the icy wall" in relations between the two countries. He did not provide any further details about the format of the match.

Speaking on June 3 on the sidelines of SPIEF, Svetlana Zhurova, a deputy with the Russian parliament’s lower house (State Duma), stated that Russia and the United States planned to organize a friendly ice hockey match between teams made up of members of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the US Chamber of Commerce.

The 2026 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is taking place on June 3-6 and is the 29th edition. This year, the event is held under the theme "Pragmatic Dialogue: the Path to a Stable Future." Saudi Arabia is the guest country at SPIEF. The forum program is dedicated to shaping a new model of global development amid the ongoing transformation of the world economy.

The program includes the SME Forum, the Creative Industries Forum, the Day of the Future International Youth Economic Forum, and the Ensuring Drug Security Forum. As part of the cultural program, the Petersburg Seasons festival and the traditional SPIEF Sports Games will take place. This year, Russia’s national economic development institution VEB.RF is the title partner of SPIEF.

The Roscongress Foundation is the organizer of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. TASS is its official general information partner.