LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Russia's political and business elite are gathered in that country's former imperial capital, St. Petersburg, for a marquee economic forum this week.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Yeah. The event is considered a pet project of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Normally, at an economic forum, you would hear prominent speakers droning on. Instead, the city was attacked on Wednesday by Ukrainian drones.
FADEL: NPR's Charles Maynes is at the event in St. Petersburg. Hi, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So did these drone attacks disrupt the event?
MAYNES: Well, you know, they happened just hours before the start of this St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. And while the drones didn't disrupt the proceedings, they certainly cast a shadow - a literal one. There were plumes of smoke lingering over the city's skyline as people arrived. It's certainly not the welcome that President Putin had hoped for. This is really his conference to promote Russia's economic might and the country as a sure investment bet despite Western sanctions. Yet these attacks are a reminder Ukraine can still strike inside Russia, including in and around major cities like St. Petersburg, even days before Putin is due to address the forum.
FADEL: Well, let's talk about what the forum is going to do. I mean, it has a bit of everything - business, geopolitics. Tell us about it.
MAYNES: Yeah. Very much so, you know, and much of it really promoting a Kremlin worldview. There's a lot of talk of conservative values, of multipolarity. This is the idea that the world is moving away from a U.S.-led global order to one where countries like Russia and China and the Global South have more power. And Russia's clash with the West over Ukraine is never far from view. There are these elaborate stands promoting military hardware or newly occupied territories of Ukraine that the Kremlin claims are now part of Russia proper.
One session I attended yesterday looked at the long-term threats to Russia, where several panelists I think you can safely describe as Russian nationalists argued that, hey, never mind Ukraine - Russia needs to prepare for an existential war with the West. That includes Aleksandr Dugin, a political philosopher I had a chance to meet with. You might consider him something like a Steve Bannon-type figure in the Russian political scene. Let's listen.
ALEKSANDR DUGIN: Now Russia is awakening to confront the pretension of the West to be universal, to be hegemonic, to be the unique power in the world with all the means we have.
FADEL: And where does the U.S. figure in all this? I mean, particularly given President Trump's attempts to mediate negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
MAYNES: Yeah. You know, it's interesting. A year ago, there was so much enthusiasm here that Trump would end the war on Russia's terms and deliver Ukraine. You don't really hear that much anymore, yet the Trump administration is present in a way. I was just watching Rodney Cook, who's overseeing Trump's White House ballroom project and currently heads the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, take part in a cultural round table where he talked about his deep affinity for Russia. And he's certainly not the only American to do so. Among all these official delegations from about 130 countries, you also find American far-right influencers. For example, I just ran into the video blogger Candace Owens. You also see representatives from Europe's far right, including Germany's AfD Party. You know, all of this suggesting that Russia's making conservative alliances that go far beyond the politics of the current moment.
FADEL: Charles Maynes in St. Petersburg. Thank you, Charles.
MAYNES: Thanks, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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