A U.S. delegation is attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum for the first time in eight years as Russian officials say contacts with Washington are continuing despite the war in Ukraine.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A United States delegation is attending Russia’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum for the first time in eight years, marking a limited but notable American presence at a Kremlin-backed event that most major Western investors have avoided since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The forum, known as SPIEF and often described as Russia’s version of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is being held from June 3-6. Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the gathering on June 5, but Kremlin officials said he has no plans to meet with any members of the American delegation.
The U.S. group is led by Rodney Mims Cook Jr., head of the Federal Commission of Fine Arts. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov announced the delegation’s participation during a June 2 briefing ahead of the forum, according to Russian outlet Interfax.
“One could say that an official U.S. delegation led by the chair of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, Rodney Cook, will arrive for the first time in several years to participate in the forum. I would say Americans have been absent at this level since around 2017–2018,” Ushakov said.
Cook is expected to speak during a session titled Russia–U.S.: Dialogue of Cultures. Other participants are expected to include Valery Gergiev, director of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters, and Mikhail Piotrovsky, general director of the Hermitage Museum.
“Naturally, the U.S. representatives will chat with our official representatives, officials, and art figures, and a discussion is expected on numerous issues on the U.S.–Russian cultural agenda,” Ushakov said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said June 4 that there are “no plans” for Putin to meet or speak with the Americans attending the forum, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
The U.S. presence comes as Washington continues efforts to seek an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, now in its fourth year. Formal face-to-face talks among the United States, Russia and Ukraine have slowed in recent months, but Russian officials said communication with Washington has continued.
Kirill Dmitriev, a Putin ally who serves as special presidential representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said contacts with U.S. representatives are taking place several times a week.
“We are in constant contact with our American colleagues. This communication occurs several times a week, and the dialogue continues. I believe we will see even more active steps in this dialogue in the near future,” Dmitriev told TASS.
Dmitriev said critics of renewed communication between the two countries were working to undermine talks.
“Enemies of the Russia–US dialogue are constantly spreading disinformation and trying to create non-existent sources of additional tension. The dialogue is complex, but we appreciate [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s commitment to peace initiatives,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of SPIEF, Dmitriev said he spoke by phone June 3 with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who have been involved in American efforts to end the war.
“Just yesterday, we spoke on the phone with both Witkoff and Jared Kushner. We’re in constant dialogue because the American side is trying to promote peace, and the American side is telling the Ukrainian side that they need to embrace peace, not constant provocations and confrontation,” Dmitriev said.
Dmitriev said economic cooperation was a central subject of the discussions, adding that Moscow sees potential for joint projects with Washington.
“There are many joint economic initiatives we can implement,” he said, adding that “we are actively developing them.”
He said Russia is preparing for possible joint investment with the United States “in various projects that are beneficial for both Russia and the United States, including in Russia.”
The forum opened as Ukraine continued striking targets inside Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said June 3 that long-range Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and other Russian targets, including a weapons production site.
Zelenskyy has said he wants to advance peace negotiations before winter while Kyiv believes it has a stronger strategic position. In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” recorded May 29 and aired two days later, he said Russia began losing battlefield momentum in December 2025.
“They couldn’t occupy territories more during one month than they lose during the same month,” Zelenskyy told host Margaret Brennan.
“So now we have this period of time before the winter. … We have, before the winter, we need to find a way, [a] diplomatic way, to sit and to speak,” he said.
Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory after Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022. Moscow has seized most of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where fighting first began in 2014, but has not taken the remaining 10 percent.
The American delegation’s appearance at SPIEF does not include a scheduled meeting with Putin, but Russian officials described the visit as part of a broader increase in dialogue with Washington as negotiations over the war and possible economic cooperation continue.
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