Russia downgraded its growth forecast for 2026 to 0.4 per cent, down from 1.3 per cent, amid continued military spending.<\/p>\n
The Russian finance ministry and central bank officials have warned Putin that his current projected expenditure on defence will risk the government\u2019s budget deficit expanding to unsustainable levels, according to Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
Putin has reportedly been told that he will need to choose between reducing financing for the war or confronting a recession.<\/p>\n
The St Petersburg event was previously used to court Western investment into Russia and was the site of multi-billion-pound business deals with European companies.<\/p>\n
However, since the war, the conference had been largely shunned by Western officials and this year will host guests from countries including Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Tanzania alongside its single US representative.<\/p>\n
Denys Shtilierman \u2013 the co-founder of Fire Point, which produces most of the long-range drones Ukraine uses against Russia \u2013 said: \u201cBecause of such distinguished guests and the importance of the event itself, we couldn\u2019t ignore it and urgently flew to St Petersburg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope all the guests of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026 will take deep breaths and enjoy the view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyiv has significantly expanded its long-range strikes<\/a> on Russian territory this year, knocking out almost 40 per cent of Russia\u2019s primary oil refining capacity as of May, according to Mr Zelensky.<\/p>\n