War, what war? Putin looks to woo new business partners willing to overlook its invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s
annual
economic
forum
in
St.
Petersburg
used
to
be
known
as
the
country’s
“Davos”
in
a
nod
to
the
World
Economic
Forum
that’s
held
in
Switzerland
every
year.

War
in
Ukraine
has
changed
the
dial
in
global
geopolitical
and
trade
relations,
however.
The
days
when
scores
of
Western
business
leaders
and
heads
of
state
attended
the
St.
Petersburg
International
Economic
Forum,
an
event
that
enables
Russia
to
showcase
its
economy
and
investment
opportunities,
are
long
gone.

Now,
Russia
is
looking
to
use
SPIEF
to
court
new
relationships
with
countries
apparently
less
squeamish
about
doing
business
with
a
country
that
has
invaded
its
neighbor
—
namely
a
number
of
countries
in
Asia,
Latin
America
and
Africa
—
and
those
willing
to
turn
a
blind
eye
to
the
war
for
their
own
economic
interests,
such
as
Russia’s
oil
and
gas
customers
in
eastern
Europe,
Slovakia
and
Hungary.

SPIEF
is
the
latest
effort
in
the
Kremlin’s
campaign
to
try
to
show
that
everything
is
still
normal,
Max
Hess,
fellow
at
the
Foreign
Policy
Research
Institute
and
author
of
“Economic
War:
Ukraine
and
the
Global
Conflict
Between
Russia
and
the
West,”
told
CNBC
Thursday.

“They
trumpet
and
highlight
international
attendees
and
domestic
propaganda,
extremely,
but
except
for
a
few
of
the
usual
characters
like
the
Hungarian
Foreign
Minister
[Peter
Szijjarto],
nobody
new
and
notable
is
showing
up
and
also
no
new
major
investments
or
deals
will
be
agreed
at
this
forum,
at
least
not
with
major
foreign
countries,”
he
said.

SPIEF
has
been
blacklisted
by
most
Western
businesses
and
politicians
since
Feb.
24,
2022,
when
Russian
forces
invaded
Ukraine.
But
Russia
is
keen
to
show
it’s
open
to
business
from
elsewhere
and
indeed,
its
need
and
desire
for
economic
partnerships
with
non-Western
nations
has
accompanied
heightened
anti-Western
sentiment
and
rhetoric
in
the
last
few
years.

Moscow
claims
that
it
wants
to
combat
Western
hegemony
and
to
establish
a
“multipolar”
world
order,
and
has
promoted
trading
partnerships
excluding
the
West
as
a
way
to
do
this.
On
that
note,
the
theme
for
the
2024
SPIEF
is

“The
Foundations
of
a
Multipolar
World
—
The
Formation
of
New
Areas
of
Growth.”

This
year’s
program
includes
sessions
on
expanding
Russian
development
of
the
Arctic,
the
expansion
of
the
BRICS
group
of
economies
and
Russia’s
car
industry.
There’s
also
sessions
on
“Family
Values,”
another
keystone
of
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin’s
fifth
term
in
office,
and
Russia’s
relationship
with
the
West.

One
session,
entitled

”The
Empire
of
Evil’:
Has
the
West
successfully
demonized
Russia?,”
asks
delegates
to
consider
whether
a
purported
“smear
campaign”
by
the
West
against
Russia
has
succeeded.

Representatives
from
136
countries
are
reportedly
attending
the
forum
that
runs
from
June
5-8,
Russian presidential foreign
policy aide

Yuri
Ushakov
told
reporters
ahead
of
the
forum.

Putin
will
address
delegates
on
Friday,
where
he’s
expected
to
promote
Russia’s
economic
resilience,
investment
opportunities
and
growth
despite
international
sanctions.
It’s
uncertain
how
much
the
war
in
Ukraine,
or
“special
military
operation,”
will
feature
in
his
address,
however,
with
Moscow
likely
to
want
to
skirt
over
the
conflict
as
it
looks
to
attract
investment.

What’s
galling
for
Western
nations
is
that
Russia
has
indeed
managed
to
adapt
its
economy
to
a
new
reality
of
sanctions
and
trade
restrictions
on
some
of
its
biggest
industries,
such
as
the
oil
and
gas
sector.

Russia’s
economy
is
expected
to
grow
faster
than
all
advanced
economies
this
year,
the
International
Monetary
Fund
predicted
back
in
April.

In

its
last
World
Economic
Outlook,
the
IMF
said
it
expected
Russia
to
grow
3.2%
in
2024, exceeding
the
forecasted
growth
rates
for
the
U.S.
(2.7%),
the
U.K.
(0.5%),
Germany
(0.2%)
and
France
(0.7%).

Russia
says
Western
sanctions
on
its
critical
industries
have
made
it
more
self-sufficient
and
that
private
consumption
and domestic
investment
remain
resilient.
Meanwhile,
continuing
oil
and
commodity
exports
to
the
likes
of
India
and
China,
as
well as
alleged
sanctions
evasion and
high
oil
prices,
have
allowed
it
to
maintain
robust
oil
export
revenues.

Analysts
will
be
keeping
an
eye
on
any
announcements
regarding
the
BRICS
organization
—
the
group
of
economies
comprising
Brazil,
Russia,
India,
China
and
South
Africa
and,
since
January,
new
members
such
as
Ethiopia,
Iran
and
Egypt
—
with
Turkey
mooting
the
possibility
of
joining
the
bloc.
Opportunities
for
economic
partnerships
between
BRICS
nations
feature
heavily
in
this
year’s
SPIEF.

Kremlin
spokesman
Dmitry
Peskov
welcomed
Ankara’s
interest
in
joining
the
group,
he
said
on
Tuesday,
saying
the
subject
would
be
on
the
agenda
of
the
next
BRICS
summit.

Analysts
like
Hess
believed
any
talk
of
the
BRICS
group
expanding
was
political
posturing.

“Will
Putin
actually
get
anything
meaningful
for
what
he
wants?
No,
maybe
the
kabuki
theater
[political
posturing]
will
go
on
and
Turkey
will
hold
some
more
talks
about
BRICS
membership.
But
as
we
saw
with
the
January
announcement
of
the
expansion
of
that
organization,
it’s
an
entire
and
complete
nothing
burger,”
Hess
said.