Russian editor
Russian MP came to me at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“Are you going to blow up Iran?” He asked.
“I don’t plan to blow someone!” I answered.
“I mean you, England …”
“Doesn’t it mean Donald Trump?”
“He heard what Britain had to do,” the man laughed. “And by deep state.”
It was a simple and bizarre conversation. But this week, St. Petersburg showed more things in the hearts of people than the economy.
Take President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, the Kremlin leader delivered a keynote speech at the Forum General Assembly. It focused on the economy.
But the Kremlin leader later created the headline in the panel discussion, creating a headline.
Putin said, “We have old rules.” “It is ours where Russian soldiers step into their feet.”
Imagine it as a leader in a country hosting an economic forum that pursues foreign investment and cooperation. Proud of the military that seizes foreign lands will not seem to be the most effective way to achieve this.
But that is the point. After the full -fledged invasion of Ukraine in Russia in February 2022, the economic state was a secondary goal of winning the war with Ukraine. That is the most important priority of Kremlin. In fact, the Russian economy is growing, but it was mainly caused by large -scale national spending on defense and military industrial complexes.
And even this war growth is now popping up.
Putin was not overly worried.
Russian President said, “As far as the” murder “of the Russian economy, the famous writer once said,” The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated. ”
But the Russian government is clearly nervous.
In the forum, Maxim Reshetnikov, the Minister of Economic Development in Russia, warned that the economy’s economy is suffering from a “economic recession.”
Elvira Nabiulina, Governor of the Russian Central Bank, said, “We have grown for two years at a very high speed because of the activation of US -based resources.“ We must understand that many of these resources are truly exhausted. ”
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was considered a sparkling showcase for the Russian economy. Thousands of international sanctions imposed on Russia on the Ukrainian War have lost many luster. Many Western companies withdrew from Russia.
Can they come back?
Eventually, US President Donald Trump made it clear that he wanted a better relationship with Moscow.
Putin’s foreign investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said, “Today we had breakfast with the US Chamber of Commerce and many investors came from the United States, we felt that many American companies wanted to come back, we talked about the side of the St. Petersburg Forum.
“I understand that the US administration is better than sanctions that do not work with dialogue and co -cooperation and do not harm business.”
But while Russia is fighting with Ukraine, Western companies are unlikely to return to large quantities.
Robert Agency, chairman of the Russian US Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “I think it is clear that the conflict must be ended before the seriously considered US companies’ seriously returning.
“Have you ever asked the Trump administration to remove some sanctions?” I asked him.
“We went to Washington,” he replied. “We analyzed the impact of US sanctions on US companies. We delivered it to the administration.”
“Do you admit that the idea of returning Western business is controversial in light of the Ukrainian war?” I asked.
“Western companies made a decision based on what happened three to four years ago,” AGEE replied. “And it is up to them to decide whether to return is appropriate.”
After more than three years of war and mass sanctions, Russia faces economic difficulties in high inflation, high interest rates, congestion reports, and economic downturn. The problem of the economy is now openly discussed and discussed.
It’s unclear how quickly they will be solved.
