A Soviet army badge, with a dove at the centre. Photo: By Mikhail Siskoff on Unsplash / Friend staff.
Mission to Moscow: John Lampen recounts a meeting between Quakers and the Soviet Peace Committee
‘The seminar marked a breakthrough.’
by John Lampen
20th June 2025
The prominence of Russia in the news, and the recent death of Peter Jarman, aroused my memories of a visit to Moscow with him in 1989. Back then Peter was the East-West relations secretary of Quaker Peace and Service (QPS). He collected a team, which met at Woodbrooke to prepare for a joint seminar with the Soviet Peace Committee (SPC), a state-sponsored organisation responsible for coordinating peace movements active in the Soviet Union. (The following account was written much later, but I checked its accuracy with Peter and consulted relevant QPS minutes).
