St Petersburg Economic Forum: mainly domestic attendance as Putin denounces Western hegemony

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 08 Jun 2024 by Alex Teddy
The Forum was held for the 27th time. Putin said that nations are buttressing their sovereignty and he rebuked the West for seeking to maintain dominance. Russia is open about its strategy of appealing to the Global South. Moscow says it is anti-imperialist which is odd as it seeks to rebuild the Russian Empire. Putin said the BRICS were a vital balance to Western mastery. He noted that BRICS countries are creating a payment system and said more nations would join the BRICS. The Forum showed a video highlighting the most horrific chapters of Western imperialism.  On internal politics, Putin spoke about advances in education and economic success in terms of low unemployment. The low unemployment is due to the draft, emigration and Central Asians being less inclined to move to Russia because of better wages elsewhere and a spike in racism after the Crocus City Hall attack. Putin mostly remained silent on the Ukraine War. However, he praised Russian business for making the war sustainable. The Forum is supposed to be Russia's equivalent to Davos. Before 2022 it was an impressive event and attracted several Western leaders. However, now few prominent Westerners attend. There was a more significant Chinese delegation there than ever before. The President of Zimbabwe and the President of Bolivia were the only foreign heads of state to attend besides Lukashenko. Russia's GDP PPP is ahead of Japan. There are economic difficulties in Russia but the economy is far from collapsing. Russia has coped better with sanctions since 2022 than anyone foresaw.

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