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NATO countries are boosting defense spending. It's a move announced at a summit last week and designed, they say, to counter threats by Russia. But as NPR's Charles Maynes reports, Russia is eager to show it still has many allies across the globe. He takes us now to a place where the Russian government is putting its best face forward for the world to see.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: St. Petersburg's International Economic Forum has long been a place for Russia to court high-profile Western investors and politicians. Yet with Europe and the U.S. largely shunning the event over the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine, the forum has taken on a different purpose, showing Russia still has plenty of friends.
ALEKSEY PUSHKOV: You cannot fail to recognize reality.
MAYNES: Aleksey Pushkov is a member of Russia's upper house of parliament. He points to faces from Asia, the Middle East and Africa as proof of Russia's enduring appeal.
PUSHKOV: The fact that the forum is taking place every year, in spite of all the sanctions and all the campaigns that are conducted against Russia in the West, it's confirmation that the idea of isolating Russia is a very weird idea. And the forum is the embodiment of the failure of this policy.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MAYNES: This is Russia as it would like to be seen, center of culture, history and, even now, opportunity, a global power very much building a future on its own terms.
AUTOMATED VOICE: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: Humanoid robots mingle among the crowds of state bureaucrats, TV propagandists and the Kremlin elite. Guests from 140 countries joined, including from Afghanistan, with the Taliban doing their best to ignore women in slinky dresses.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: And seemingly everywhere, ceremonies and handshakes to mark business deals, despite signs not all is well with the Russian economy.
MAXIM RESHETNIKOV: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: In a moment that grabbed headlines, the Kremlin's economic development minister, Maxim Reshetnikov, acknowledged the country was on the verge of a recession during a policy roundtable.
RESHETNIKOV: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: "I didn't say we would have a recession," he quickly added. "I said we could, if we don't make the right decisions."
And about those decisions. Russia's Central Bank, once credited with saving the economy from Western sanctions, now faces growing criticism. Even prominent government officials argue bank policies, such as sky-high interest rates, are choking economic growth. A United Nations report also found foreign investment in Russia at its lowest level in nearly a quarter century, a sign that outsiders, too, see Russia's future as less than a sure bet.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're trying to do some economic development deals. They have a lot of things that we want.
MAYNES: In recent months - this was late February - President Trump has repeatedly suggested a new era of economic relations with Russia could be in the offing, creating hopes of sanctions relief and the return of American investors into the Russian market. But some notable Russian lawmakers say that's premature for now.
MARIA BUTINA: My name is Maria Butina, the deputy of the State Duma, well known as a former prisoner.
MAYNES: Butina served a year and a half in a U.S. federal prison back in 2019, convicted for failing to declare herself an agent of the Russian government. She says her experiences in the U.S. taught her something most Russians fail to understand. Trump's campaign promises to improve relations apply but won't happen overnight.
BUTINA: It took me a certain time, including time in prison, to get it. Well, now I'm trying to explain it to my compatriots saying, like, look, they might say this much, but if they work in this direction, this is very good hope.
MAYNES: But on a key issue impacting those relations, Ukraine, compromise seemed in short supply, including among some foreigners.
KARIN KNEISSL: I left Austria with two suitcases and two dogs.
MAYNES: I met with Karin Kneissl, the former foreign minister of Austria, who currently lives in Russia, working at a Kremlin-sponsored think tank. She got in hot water back home almost seven years ago, when she got married while serving as Austria's top diplomat and Russian president Vladimir Putin made an appearance dancing arm-in-arm with the bride.
These days, she argues, Russia is too forgiving in its efforts to repair relations with the West.
KNEISSL: I must say the Russian kindness in terms of, let's be friends again, let's normalize everything again - all this is quite amazing. And my attitude toward that, it's not the time to be so kind.
(APPLAUSE)
MAYNES: And then there was the guest of honor of this year's event.
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: In the forum's keynote session, President Putin said Ukraine could accept Russia's current territorial demands or face further losses in the future, citing an old folk saying.
PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: "Anywhere a Russian soldier sets foot, the land is ours," said Putin.
(APPLAUSE)
MAYNES: The Kremlin leader dismissed accusations Russia was a threat to Europe, but he was joined on stage by leaders and officials from Indonesia, China, Bahrain and South Africa, who all endorsed the central theme of the forum.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: The world is at a crucial moment of change, with political and economic might shifting from the West to new centers of power in Asia, the global South, and, of course, Russia. Yet some argue the Kremlin's new battle with the West has been damaging to both sides.
A CHAKRAPANI: You know, it's a big loss. It's a big loss for Russia, big loss for Europe.
MAYNES: A Chakrapani is with the Indian Business Alliance in Russia. Chakrapani says there's only one true winner in this new version of the Cold War.
CHAKRAPANI: Brother, you should understand very simple. Whatever the West is doing is making powerful China.
MAYNES: It's China's world, and the rest of us just live in it, he explains with a shrug. Just maybe, he adds, a good topic for next year's forum.
Charles Maynes, NPR News, St. Petersburg, Russia.
(SOUNDBITE OF MEZERG'S "ZARBO TEMPO") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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