2023-06-13 23:48:13
Vladimir Putin’s annual economic forum starts tomorrow, Wednesday, June 14, in St. Petersburg. Before the invasion of Ukraine, the forum was a magnet for global politicians and investors. It has now become a measure of Russia’s deepening isolation.
Organizers have struggled to attract major political figures, as per the program for this year’s event, as even some leaders of Russia’s former Soviet neighbors have opted to stay away.
With the absence of European and US business leaders, the 26th International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg attracts mostly low-level officials from countries that remained war-neutral, including the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. The four-day event provides a snapshot of how Russia is trying to restructure its economic relations under pressure from unprecedented sanctions imposed by the US and its allies.
Putin will address the forum’s plenary session as usual, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Where French President Emmanuel Macron and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel were once high-profile guests, the most important European visitor this year is Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. He is due to speak on a panel on global energy with the Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum, Pedro Tellechea.
Szijjarto “will represent exactly the same position in St. Petersburg as it has had everywhere else before,” said Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Paczolay. “This is that war and the senseless killing of people must be ended immediately and peace talks must begin.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declined the invitation to participate in the forum. Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will also not be present, according to officials in the Central Asian country.
Tokayev caused a stir at last year’s event when he publicly disagreed with the invasion of Russia as he sat next to Putin on the plenary stage.
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, who met Putin in the Kremlin last month, does not plan to attend, according to his office.
Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz will participate in a session on Russia-Latin America relations. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will attend the forum, reported the Algerian Press Service.
China’s ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, and the leader of the Union of Chinese Businessmen in Russia are the main guests of a panel on bilateral trade relations. A panel on Russia-India relations includes just two Indian business representatives out of the 12 speakers listed.
The largest international presence will be in the Middle East, according to the program. UAE Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri leads a group of UAE officials listed as participants in a session on trade relations with Russia.
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