While Western leaders are absent from the forum, in the corridors of the World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg one can meet the representative of the Taliban, which in Russia is characterized as a terrorist organization, which will be temporarily authorized in Afghanistan in Moscow.
The World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, which began yesterday, is not attended by any major Western investors, and out of more than 100 Russian billionaires, only six are participating, according to Agenstvo, which studied the forum program.
In contrast to previous years – says the Russian service of the BBC – when the high visitors were the heads of Asian and European states (for example the president of China Xi Jinping or the French president Emmanuel Macron), none of the Western leaders is participating this year, with the exception of the President of Kazakhstan, Kasim Zomart Tokayevwho had recently visited Moscow to attend the Collective Security Treaty Organization summit.
While Western leaders are absent from the forum, in the corridors of the St. Petersburg World Economic Forum one can meet the representative of the Talibanwhich in Russia are characterized as a terrorist organization, which will be temporarily Afghanistan’s envoy to Moscow.
The Taliban are officially taking part in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Who else can a terrorist state invite to its economic forum, if not representatives of a terrorist organization? pic.twitter.com/qhiVu64VK7
– UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) June 16, 2022
The forum is attended by the presidents of the self-proclaimed “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk.
One of the prominent figures in the forum is the president of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” Denis Pushilin.
Yesterday, Wednesday, together with the governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Begloffannounced the opening of the forum with a cannonade, while today the Russian media reproduce his statement that the so-called military operation in Ukraine may be completed by the end of the year.
Last week the State Department announced that the US government will not participate in any capacity in the forum and called on companies and governments of other countries to boycott the forum.
“We call for a clear message that there will be no ‘business as usual’ as long as Russian forces are attacking Ukraine,” said Ned Price, a spokesman for the ministry.
Some companies, as the Russian newspaper RBK writes, fearing the sanctions, asked the organization of the forum to hide as much as possible that their representatives will participate in the forum.
For example, they requested that their company name not be mentioned.
Central Bank President Elvira Nabiulina, Russian President Maxim Oreskin’s adviser and Economic Development Minister Anton Siluanov spoke at the forum this morning. Nabulina said that the conditions for the Russian economy “have changed for a long time, if not forever” and now production must be directed to the internal market, Interfax reports.
The speech of the Russian president is expected in the plenary session of the forum tomorrow, Vladimir Putin.
The forum in St. Petersburg is being held this year for the first time after two years of pandemic. The previous forum was attended by CEOs of multinational companies, big Western businessmen and politicians, while the plenary sessions were moderated by well-known Western journalists.
