The representatives of the Afghan Taliban and the leader of the so-called armed group of the Donetsk region in Ukraine came to the St. Petersburg International Forum as foreign guests.
Source: Russian journalists
The forum was officially opened by St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov and the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the east of Ukraine, Denys Pushilin when they fired two cannons from St. Petersburg’s Peter and Paul Fortress.
The deputy head of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Taliban extremist group, was spotted on the sidelines of the forum. Russian propagandists took a blitz interview with him in which he shared plans to purchase two million tons of grain and 5,000 tons of oil from Russia. A Taliban spokesman also said that “10-20 days ago” Russian businessmen came to Afghanistan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive at the forum on June 17.
This year, Putin recorded an address to the forum’s guests 10 days before the event. In it, in contrast to previous years, he criticized Western partners. He accused Western leaders of provoking the world’s food crisis through “irrational sanctions”.
During the event robotics company Promobot displayed its cashier robot “Dunyasha” which showered forum participants with compliments in addition to offering coffee, tea and ice cream for sale.
Uaposition memo: The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is an annual Russian business event for the economic sector, which has been held in St. Petersburg since 1997, and under the auspices of the Russian President since 2005.
