Russia Courts the Global South in St. Petersburg as a United States Delegation Returns

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russia's main international economic conference, drew delegations from more than 70 countries this year, with senior officials from China, India, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America attending as Moscow works to redirect commerce away from the European markets it has lost, Al Jazeera reported. The forum displays a trend markets have followed for months, in which Russia reorganizes its trade around groups of countries designed to resist Western sanctions.

State agency TASS noted a small but telling detail. Members of a visiting United States delegation wore badges depicting the American flag styled as a matryoshka doll, and the agency reported positive reactions from other participants, an American business presence that was largely absent in recent years. Domestic deals continued at the same time, with the state conglomerate Rostec saying it intends to acquire a 25% stake in the logistics group Delo, business daily Kommersant reported, a sign of the state's increasing control over transport infrastructure.

From a sound-money perspective, the forum matters less for any single contract than for what it represents, the slow construction of payment and trade channels that bypass the dollar and the institutions that govern its use.