Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to take questions from Western journalists on Wednesday in St Petersburg, as his war on Ukraine rages and hostilities escalate between Iran and Israel.
On the first day of the annually organized St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin will meet representatives of international news agencies to present his perspective on global issues, the Kremlin said.
In the past, the question-and-answer session, to which dpa is also invited, has lasted several hours. At the centre of attention is likely to be, once again, Putin's war against Ukraine.
Russia uses the forum to present itself to the world and to defy the international isolation sought by the West. Additionally, the SPIEF is considered a venue for circumventing sanctions against the resource-rich nation imposed as a result of the war. Moscow itself describes the punitive measures as illegal.
A Russia-US business dialogue is scheduled following the rapprochement of the two countries since US President Donald Trump returned to power.
According to the organizers, around 22,000 participants from 139 countries attended the country's largest economic event last year.
Putin plans to deliver an economic policy speech on Friday – as he does every year – and answer questions on a panel.
Despite the limited economic contacts, many entrepreneurs and speakers from Western countries attend the forum.
Although Russia continues to record comparatively high growth thanks to the war economy and commodity sales, the country is struggling with high inflation and a high key interest rate, which makes investments expensive.
