Russia’s economic forum kicked off Wednesday with participants from the Taliban and separatists from eastern Ukraine.
THE Russian President Vladimir Putin He was humiliated on Friday when a cyber attack forced him to delay a keynote speech at an economic forum called “Russian Davos”.
The Kremlin said the St. Petersburg Economic Forum had been hit by a cyber attack, shutting down the service system, forcing the Russian president to delay a scheduled speech by an hour.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov told reporters that experts were working to resolve the issue and that Putin’s keynote address was delivered at 3 p.m. (13:00 BST).
The Russian Economic Forum kicked off on Wednesday, with participants including representatives of the Taliban and separatist authorities from eastern Ukraine. The event is scheduled to last until Saturday.
Putin seeks to strengthen ties with Asia and Africaafter sending troops to pro-Western Ukraine in February and the West “hit” the country with disastrous economic sanctions.
The annual forum (SPIEF), often referred to as Russia’s Davos, has been the country’s main showcase for investors, attracting world leaders and business elites.
Delegations from more than 40 countries are expected to attend this year, including those from China, Turkey, Egypt and some countries in Asia and Africa.
“Officials from unfriendly countries will not come,” said Putin’s top foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, ahead of a forum on the Russian president’s birthday, using a term to describe states that have imposed sanctions on Moscow.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, a close ally of Moscow, is expected to join the forum via video call.
As every year, Putin was scheduled to address the plenary session of the forum on Friday, focusing on “unfair” competition, trade and sanctions, the Kremlin said. This was delayed by the cyber attack.
The Russian leader will be joined by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Kazakh President Qasim-Zomart Tokayev and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.
