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The Russian Nurses’ Association (RNA), developed an Ethics Code for Nurses in 1999.  This Ethics Code is to guide nurses in the ethical dimension of their role with a related purpose to further develop the nurse’s role in Russian health care.  Through learning about the professional expectations this code sets, it was hoped nurses would come to value ethical decision-making principles and learn to use them in caring for patients/families.  The paper’s purpose is to describe the requirements for an ethics capacity building collaboration to assist the RNA strengthen the implementation of this code.   In establishing the collaborative relationship for ethics capacity building, the joint learning required to proceed became evident.  Ethics is not part of nursing education in Russia.  The US collaborative participants from a medical center, a center for health care ethics and university philosophy department needed to learn with and from the RNA how to frame the teaching of ethics principles and decision –making.  Initial meetings to  plan an ethics practicum for Russian nurses in the US took on a too ambitious approach.  A visit by the RNA Executive Director to the three US collaborators’ organizations provided a concrete image of how nurses can function in clinical ethical decision-making situations.  Discussion with members of the medical center’s ethics consultation team and staff nurses on how they identify ethical dilemmas helped solidify goals and planning of an ethics conference for nurses in St Petersburg.  With the successful offering of a first conference, additional goals are to offer this initial conference to members of the RNA Regional Leadership and continue development of a cadre of Russian nurses through offering a follow-up conference and writing a quarterly column on ethics issues for the RNA journal.  To collaborate we must learn together how to frame ethics education; that is a mandate.