Taliban and "DPR" leaders are received as foreign guests at forum in St. Petersburg

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA - WEDNESDAY, 15 JUNE 2022, 17:02 

Representatives of the Afghan Taliban and the leader of an unrecognised armed group in Donetsk Oblast came to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as foreign guests.

Source: Russian news agency Meduza

Details: The organisers decided to open the economic forum by firing a shot from a museum cannon. Alexander Beglov, the governor of St. Petersburg, and Denis Pushylin, leader of an unrecognised group in the so-called "DPR" ["Donetsk People’s Republic"], fired a salvo together from a cannon at the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The deputy head of the "Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce", a member of the Taliban extremist group, was spotted on the sidelines of the forum. He gave a brief interview to Russian propagandists in which he shared plans to purchase 2 million tonnes of grain and 5,000 tonnes of oil in Russia.

The Taliban representative also said that Russian businessmen had visited Afghanistan "10-20 days ago".

Russian pop singer Philipp Kirkorov and the pranksters Vovan and Lexus were also seen at the forum. The pranksters, who have become famous for posing as international leaders in their hoax calls, were invited to speak as experts on a panel entitled "Fake news in the age of globalisation".

In addition, guests were greeted by a robot named Dunyasha, who asked them their names and offered them ice cream or coffee. Screens showed an animation of a packet of baking soda with human limbs, eyes and mouth. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the forum on 17 June.

This year, Putin recorded an address to the forum's guests 10 days before the event opened. In contrast to previous years, he used it to rail against Western partners. He accused Western leaders of provoking the world's prolonged food crisis by their "irrational sanctions".

For reference: The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has been held since 1997, and the President of the Russian Federation has participated in it every year since 2005. Informally, it was considered one of the main international events in Russia, drawing top managers of Russian companies, international political leaders and lobbyists from Western companies.

In recent years, the forum has been attended by Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Finland’s Sauli Niinisto, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others.