Berkeley prepares to suspend ties to Russia

Berkeley is poised to become only the second Californian municipality to suspend ties with its Russian sister cities this week amid the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Two of Berkeley's 17 international sister cities are in Russia. Relations with Dmitrov, located just north of Moscow, were founded in May 1991, while a partnership with Ulan-Ude, near Siberia's Lake Baikal, was established in 1992.

Mayor Jesse Arreguín proposed the Russian sister-city suspension after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directly implored mayors across the country to sever relations earlier this month. By April 21, 10% of the nearly 100 American-Russian sister-cities, which are intended to help foster peace, spark cultural understanding and promote trade, had suspended or cut ties.

“Please don't let those who became murderers call your cities their sister cities,” Zelensky said, roughly 100 days after Russian forces invaded. “What do those ties give to you? Probably nothing.”

But the move is largely symbolic, as communication between the communities in the last three decades has largely remained dormant.

In an email, Arreguín said that while a few dozen city residents and Berkeley Unified School District staff started to form partnerships and cultural exchanges three decades ago, “based on our research, there was no formal sistecity associations formed and no ongoing contact or collaboration after their initial formation as sister-cities.”

No extensive pushback has bubbled up ahead of Tuesday's Berkeley City Council meeting, when the decision will be voted on as part of the agenda's consent calendar.

Suspending sister-city relations is Berkeley's latest attempt to speak out against Russia's unprovoked attack on

Ukraine. Since the February 24 invasion, the war has claimed hundreds of lives and created millions of refugees.

In response, the Berkeley City Council approved a resolution supporting Ukraine's integrity, authorized the Ukrainian flag to fly at the Civic Center and adopted a resolution calling upon the United Nations Secretary-General and other government officials to facilitate an immediate ceasefire and peaceful negotiations.

Berkeley is one of at least eight cities in California with ties to a Russian sistercity, including Livermore, Long Beach, Los Altos, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Bernardino, San Diego and San Jose.

Locally, Bay Area governments' reaction to the invasion have been divided.

Santa Clara County severed their relations and disbanded a nearly 30-year-old cultural commission with Moscow.

While one San Jose councilmember pushed for ending its connection to the