The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Petrograd Council, the Menshevik Nikolay Chkheidze, the presidium was elected as part of Nikolai Chkheidze, Matvey Skobelev, Irakli Tsereteli, Matvey Muranov, Lev Khinchuk, Victor Nogin, Boris Bogdanov, Mikhail Romm, Abram Gotz, Ivan Shavodorov, Ivan Theodorovich, Alexander Shlyapnikov, Vladimir Zavadie.
The meeting was the first significant step in formalizing the Soviets spontaneously arising during the February Revolution into a single all-Russian system.
[2] On the land issue, the Meeting declared support at a future Constituent Assembly for the project of transferring privately owned land to peasants "with the exception of possessions not exceeding maximum standards", however, prior to the convening of the Meeting, delegates refused to further discuss the issue of land ("non-commitment") and condemned its spontaneous seizures.
In the resolution on the economic situation of the country, delegates called on the Provisional Government: ...to solve two urgent tasks: 1) systematically regulate the entire economic life of the country, organizing all production, exchange, movement and consumption under the direct control of the state; 2) to alienate [from the word "alienation"] all superprofits in favor of nations and limit all types of capitalist income to strictly defined norms.
On April 12, Kamenev, on behalf of the Bolsheviks, proposed a resolution to end the war, but it collected only 57 votes in favor with 325 against.