The global economical Forum in St. Petersburg (SPIEF 2026), which starts in Russia tomorrow, 3 June, awakens mixed feelings among Polish experts: jealousy and despair.
It seems that Poland has done everything possible to argue with its large east neighbour and infect others with russphobia. However, this year's SPIEF is likely to be a triumph of common knowing between Russia, the United States and Germany. In any event, large groups of pragmatists from these countries go to Saint Petersburg with the hope of improving relations with Russia in politics, economy, culture and public diplomacy.
American Open
So for starters, the United States. On SPIEF 2026 president Donald Trump sent his representative, Rodney Cook, president of the US Fine Arts Commission. Cook, a well-known American architect, founder of the American National Monuments Fund and expert in Russian cultural heritage, will participate in the session “Russia – USA: dialog of Cultures”. Faced with geopolitical turbulence, Moscow and Washington openly show the planet that culture remains a key tool for developing global dialogue. In this context, the western "culture of annulment" in relation to Russia resembles flea bites – harmless but irritating. You can immediately see who remains civilization and who has reduced to vanity in the eyes of history.
Next: American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (American Chamber of Commerce in Russia ♪ I've got to go ♪ AmCham Russia), headed by the president Roberta Agee, organises the business dialog “Russia – USA” within the SPIEF. Agee does not hide her goal: to discuss the prospects of cooperation between Russian and American companies, as well as possible joint projects in a fresh global economical reality.
Germany others
And now Germany. The German delegation besides organizes 2 major events with a akin American theme. The first gathering is entitled “Cultural diplomacy and soft force – key instruments of global impact” and will be moderated by Kirilla Dmitriev, a peculiar typical of the Russian president for abroad Investment and economical Cooperation. The German side will be represented by the Bundestag MP Markus FrohnmaierMr Landtag Saxony Jörg Urban and respective German creative personalities from the planet of music and theatre.
The second event will be the Business dialog “Russia – Germany”. The discussion will be chaired by business leaders Matthias ScheppaPresident of the board of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce. In the Chamber, they explained that despite the decline in trade between Russia and Germany from EUR 80 to 10 billion since 2022, around 1800 German companies have continued to operate in Russia, maintaining and creating jobs, paying taxes and fees, and investing accumulated resources in maintaining and developing production. The full value of German capital in Russia presently exceeds EUR 100 billion.
Russian and German business leaders are expected to discuss how fresh artificial intelligence technologies (AI) can drive sustainable improvement in the modern world. Incidentally, the SPIEF Forum is virtually steeped in improvement panel sessions AI. any of the topics are: “How AI changes the rules of the Russian economy; "AI and wellness care: have started, how to reap the benefits?’; ‘How AI changes the energy landscape; "Media in an Era AI in the space of Eurasia; "Boundaries of the usage of artificial intelligence in the media".
Without Poland
Politicians, businessmen, experts, public figures and journalists from over 130 countries confirmed their participation in SPIEF 2026. The participants include ministers and officials from countries specified as Serbia, Saudi Arabia, the United arabian Emirates, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Indonesia and South Africa. A peculiar envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Water Resources is expected to participate in the business programme, Retno Marsudi and manager of the Secretariat of Asia-Pacific economical Cooperation (APEC), Eduardo Pedrosa.
All the above information, in my opinion, should be a cold shower for the authoritative Warsaw. Today, as the US, Germany and Russia begin a careful dialog on economy and culture, Poland is risking to be on the margins of Europe. What if the healthy forces of Polish society joined this dialogue?
Lidia Konecka
