A-Listers Flock to Putin's Private Davos
Source: Bloomberg
June 17, 2016 1:10 PM EDT
By
Leonid Bershidsky
Two years ago, President Vladimir Putin decided to wait out Western attempts to isolate Russia economically and politically. This year's St. Petersburg Economic Forum -- an annual event informally known as Russia's Davos -- showed that his patience is gradually paying off, but business as usual still isn't within reach.
The lineup at the forum was much more impressive than in 2014, when Western leaders and top chief executives stayed away because Russia was toxic in the aftermath of the Crimea annexation, or last year, soon after the Minsk peace accord suspended the fighting in eastern Ukraine. This year, the U.S. State Department again warned U.S. companies against attending the gathering because of "clear risks, both economic and reputational, associated with top-level engagement with a government that is flouting the most fundamental principles of international rule of law by intervening militarily in a neighboring country." Yet Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson showed up.
So did foreign leaders: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy, former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. The presence of the leaders of occupied Crimea and Putin's wealthy friends, who are under international sanctions, didn't deter these foireign dignataries from attending and giving Putin's ego a boost.
At times, once could even think that their positions were close to Putin's on certain economic matters. Juncker, for example, said Thursday:
For the European Union and Russia, the prize, one day, could be great: a vast region governed by the rule of law, trading freely and working together on common projects.
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