The Kremlin told about high-ranking foreign guests of SPIEF

Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) high-ranking delegations from more than 15 countries will visit St. Petersburg this year. This was announced to journalists at a briefing by the assistant to the President of Russia, Yuri Ushakov. According to him, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebbun, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov, as well as Armenian and South Ossetian Presidents Vahagn Khachatryan and South Ossetian Alan Gagloev will arrive at SPIEF among foreign leaders.

“All of them will perform at the SPIEF opening ceremony,” Ushakov said. In turn, the President of Algeria will take part in the main plenary meeting on June 16 and “will be on the podium,” the presidential aide added. In addition to the above-mentioned leaders, SPIEF will be attended by “deputy prime ministers, ministers, governors and senators of a number of countries”, diplomats and representatives of international organizations – the SCO, the CSTO, the CIS, the African Export-Import Bank, etc.

As Ushakov emphasized, in 2023 SPIEF will be held under the slogan “Sovereign development is the basis of a just world. Let’s join forces for the sake of future generations.” The forum includes several areas – “Building technological sovereignty”, “The Russian economy – from adaptation to growth”, “Labor market: response to new challenges”, as well as a number of other topics for discussion.

The schedule of Putin’s international meetings in the coming days will be active outside of SPIEF. Ushakov said that the Russian leader would hold a separate meeting with Algerian President Tebbun, who has been visiting Moscow since yesterday evening. On June 14, Tebbun will hold meetings with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, and will also take part in the Russian-Algerian business forum. The president will be accompanied by the chairman of the intergovernmental commission, Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev.

Talks between Tebbun and Putin are scheduled for June 15, first in a narrow format, and then as part of delegations. As Ushakov emphasized, contacts between the Russian leader and his Algerian counterpart are extremely important – Algeria is one of the three leading trading partners of Russia in Africa, and in 2024-2025. Algeria is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. The views of Algeria and Russia on international issues, the presidential aide added, “either coincide or are very close.”

Attention in the international schedule of the Russian president will be given to the Ukrainian crisis. On June 17, Putin will receive an African delegation in St. Petersburg, which will present its views on resolving the conflict. Initially, such an initiative came from the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, and now in St. Petersburg it will be presented by a delegation of seven heads of state of the African continent. According to Ushakov, this delegation includes its leader, President of the Union of the Comoros and Chairman of the African Union in 2023 Azali Assoumani, President of South Africa Ramaphosa, as well as the Presidents of Zambia, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Uganda and the Prime Minister of Egypt. Earlier, on June 15, the delegation will arrive in Kyiv, where it will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and “listen to his assessments.” Answering a question about whether the grain deal would be discussed at Putin’s meeting with the African delegation, Ushakov noted that for Africans the extension of the deal is of particular importance, and therefore they express concern about the current situation.