Russia | Putin assured the economy’s hard-hitting ability in St. Petersburg – with his daughters and the Taliban in sight, too

Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke on Friday at St. Petersburg’s annual international economic forum. The four-day forum started on Wednesday and ends on Saturday.

Putin’s speech, which lasted about an hour, did not contain much new information. Putin painted a rosy picture of the state of the Russian economy, listing numbers one after the other during the hour, as well as goals that had been reached faster than planned.

Also in last year’s speech Putin sought to show how the Russian economy flourished despite the war and the departure of Western companies.

The speech was presented live at the economic forum on the website. Its content was also reported by the news agencies Reuters and AFP, as well as Russian media, including the news agency Tass.

His speech at first, Putin took a stand against the Western sanctions, which he called illegal.

“The countries that just a moment ago were the leaders of global development are trying to hold on to their fleeting dominant position by all means, good and bad,” Putin said, referring to Western countries.

Putin said that Russia will continue to develop relations between the Brics countries not only in terms of economy and finance, but also, for example, in security and humanitarian cooperation.

The original members of the alliance are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. At the beginning of the year, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates also joined the Brics countries.

Putin’s voice did not seem to last and he had to cough throughout his speech.

Putin’s considered as daughters Maria Vorontsova39, and Katerina Tikhonova, 37, were featured in the event. Both were panel speakers at the forum on Thursday and Friday, AFP reported.

The work of Tihonova, who heads the technology company Innopraktika, is connected to the Russian army. On Thursday, Tihonova spoke on a panel about the role of the defense sector in strengthening Russia’s “technological sovereignty”.

“The sovereignty of the state is one of the most important topics in recent years, it is the basis of Russia’s security,” Tihonova said in her televised speech.

Vorontsova, on the other hand, heads the state-supported genetics institute, spoke on Friday in a panel about innovations in biodiversity.

According to the Russian media, it was the first time that both were part of the official program of the economic forum.

Putin has never confirmed that Vorontsova and Tihova are his daughters. However, women have been linked to Putin in several media sources. The US Treasury Department has also added both to the sanctions list as Putin’s daughters.

St. Petersburg the economic forum is an almost 30-year-old annual event that brings together political and economic influencers from different countries.

The entire economic and political elite of Russia, from ministers to governors and businessmen, as well as various entertainment stars and social media influencers have been present at the forum this week.

According to the forum’s website, there are about 130 participating countries. This year, they include, for example, China, Iran, India, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

There has been no official representation from Western countries after 2021.