Putin will meet with Kurz at SPIEF and launch the Aurus plant
During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with representatives of the world’s media. This was announced by the TV channel “Russia 24”. The Forum this year will be held on June 2-5.
The President is also expected to meet with Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who will also take part in the forum.
During the SPIEF, the President will talk to business representatives and investors.
Putin to take part in the SPIEF 2021 plenary session in person
In addition, next week Putin will take part in the launch of the Aurus automobile plant and will meet with families awarded with the Orders of Parental Glory. The event is timed to coincide with the Children’s Day.
Last year, SPIEF was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In March, Roscongress announced that the decision to hold the forum this year was made taking into account the conclusions of experts that Russia and the world are “at a post-pandemic turning point”, and universal vaccination and the formation of herd immunity make it possible “to stabilize the epidemiological situation.”
This year, among businessmen, the forum will be attended by the chairman of the French oil company Total, Patrick Pouyanne, and the president and chief executive officer of the German conglomerate Siemens Energy AG, Christian Bruch. In addition, Chief Executive Officer of German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea Mario Mehren and President of Huawei Eurasia Zhou Daniel will come to the forum.
At the same time, the Foreign Ministry promised to help Minsk in case of new European sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry assured that in the event of the introduction of sanctions that affect the transit of gas through Belarus, they will first find out how this will affect the economy.
Russia will help Belarus in the event of the introduction of European sanctions against this country, but will not take impulsive measures. Dmitry Birichevsky, Director of the Department for Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, told RIA Novosti agency about this.
“I think that we will protect our partner Belarus, we will help our allies. And what the Westerners come up with against Belarus evokes absolutely negative emotions. Because first of all it is necessary to investigate what happened, and then think about how to react to it, and not make hasty statements, ”said the official of the Foreign Ministry.
Birichevsky noted that it is not worth saying that Moscow, for example, will respond in a mirror-like manner if sanctions are imposed against Belarus, affecting the transit of Russian gas to Europe. “We need to calculate how this will affect the economy and existing contracts. We cannot react to the measures that have been introduced in relation to another country, we need to discuss this with partners and see what we can do, ”he added.
Peskov forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus the question of “provocations of oligarchs”
Last week, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell admitted that new sanctions against Belarus could affect the export of potassium carbonate and the transit of Russian gas. “We believe that gas that enters Europe through Belarus will still go to Europe, but via a different pipeline. Importantly, Belarus will lose the right to transit, ”Borrell said.
The EU is discussing sanctions against Belarus after the incident on 23 May. Then the plane of the Ryanair airline made an emergency landing in Minsk, allegedly due to the threat of a terrorist attack. The Belarusian special services detained two passengers – the founder of the opposition Telegram-channel Nexta Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, a citizen of Russia Sofya Sapega.