Steven Seagal was among the notable guests at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum as Russia opened its annual showcase for business and diplomacy on Wednesday. The three-day gathering, often called the Russian Davos, drew around 20,000 guests from more than 130 countries even as the war in Ukraine shadowed the event.
That interest is exactly what the Kremlin wants from the forum. Steven Seagal, the actor and longtime supporter of Vladimir Putin, joined an event built to sell Russia as open for business and still connected to the world, despite its prolonged estrangement from much of the West since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The forum began in June 1997 and has grown into one of Russia's most prominent international events, mixing investment talks with political messaging and a view of the global order that Moscow wants heard far beyond St Petersburg.
The turnout matters now because the forum opened only hours after a Ukrainian drone strike hit energy facilities near St Petersburg and temporarily disrupted operations at the city's airport. The attacks took place roughly 16km from the forum venue, a reminder that the war is never far from the setting even when the stage is filled with corporate panels, ministers and familiar names from abroad.
This year's sessions range from energy markets and artificial intelligence to information warfare and media influence, a mix that shows how the event works as both a business fair and a political platform. One panel featuring Maria Zakharova is titled “Your Words are Like Bullets: How Information Has Transformed into the Most Powerful Weapon of the Modern Era.” Alongside Seagal, attendees include former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, while Saudi Arabia is the guest country and is sending Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud.
The forum is also being used to test whether limited U.S.-Russia business contacts can still produce anything concrete. President Donald Trump has appointed Rodney Mims Cook Jr as his representative, and Cook is expected to take part in a session titled “Russia-USA: A Cultural Dialogue.” The American Chamber of Commerce in Russia and the Roscongress Foundation are organizing a business forum on possible cooperation between Russian and US companies, but the real question is whether those meetings can move beyond symbolism while the war continues and Moscow remains isolated in Europe and North America. Han Zheng is expected to meet separately with Putin on June 6, and that bilateral encounter may tell more about where Russia is finding willing partners than the celebrity names in the hall.
