US figures attend Russia's St Petersburg Economic Forum amid war concerns

Russia’s answer to the Davos economic summit kicked off on Wednesday, days after Vladimir Putin was warned that he can no longer afford to fight his war with Ukraine at the current pace.

Formally known as the St Petersburg Economic Forum, the meeting has attracted an eclectic crowd, including famous Americans attracted to Moscow’s claims of “anti-wokery” and support for “traditional values”.

Moscow will be looking to strengthen its economic footing after top finance officials and Russia’s central bank are said to have urged the Kremlin to rein in spiralling defence spending, with Russia and Ukraine ramping up costly aerial attacks on vital infrastructure.

Defence officials told Putin that the Russian military will need billions of extra dollars this year to fund the conflict, according to Bloomberg News.

Below we look at some of the notable US guests who are due to attend the forum in the coming days.

Chairman of the US Commission of Fine Arts, Rodney Mims Cook Jr is overseeing President Donald Trump’s controversial White House ballroom extension and is listed as leading the official US delegation to the forum.

He is the first US official to attend the forum since 2017/18, according to the Kremlin, and the first since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022. He will speak at a session on US-Russian cultural dialogue.

Cook told Russia's TASS state news agency ahead of the forum that he was representing the US as a minister of culture and as a Christian not as a politician. He said he had helped restore various churches in Russia in the past, and on Tuesday gifted a religious icon to a male monastery in St Petersburg.

Robert Agee, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), told TASS on the forum’s sidelines that the “fact that Mr Cook came is a very good signal” that Trump “truly wants to improve relations with Russia”.

"We are very glad that Mr. Cook has come to Russia, that he is here. Yesterday I was with him at the monastery, where he presented an icon and received another icon for Washington in return. We see that there are such efforts, that there is a desire to improve relations," he added.

But he said it doesn’t quite represent an official US delegation.

"I wouldn't say it's an official delegation. He is, of course, an official person, but I don't know if he can say it's an official delegation. He received permission to come, and that's good. But I can't say it's a delegation," Agee added.

Candace Owens is a right-wing social media influencer who was a former MAGA loyalist until a falling out with the Trump movement.

She is known for sharing unfounded conspiracy theories, including allegations that Israel played a role in the September assassination of her friend and former colleague, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte are pursuing a high-profile U.S. defamation lawsuit against Owens, 37, who has falsely claimed that Brigitte was born male.

Owens will speak at a session on “balancing parenthood in a large family with a successful career”, according to the official programme.

“I have been wanting to go to St Petersburg for a very, very long time just as a Christian in general just to see some of those cathedrals and churches,” Owens said ahead of her trip.

Former Hollywood action hero and martial arts expert, Seagal has long admired Putin from whom he received a Russian passport in 2016.

Seagal is a special representative of Russia's Foreign Ministry for humanitarian ties with the United States and Japan.

In 2014, he described Putin as “one of the great living world leaders” and expressed skepticism over the alleged Russian interference in the US elections in 2016 - when Donald Trump was first elected into office.

Seagal was also banned from entering Ukraine for five years because he has “committed socially dangerous actions”, it said, adding that he posed a threat to national security.

A frequent visitor to Russia, Seagal backed Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 as "very reasonable", joined a pro-Kremlin party in 2021, and has supported Russia's war in Ukraine.

Seagal is listed as a participant in a panel on culture.

Influencer Andrew Tate posted a video of himself and his brother Tristan receiving a musical Russian welcome at the airport in Moscow on the eve of the forum.

The pair filmed themselves dancing as they announced they would be flying to Moscow on Monday. On Tuesday, Andrew Tate shared a picture of him standing on Moscow’s famed Red Square.

However, the brothers have yet to confirm their attendance at the forum itself.

Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist, has gained millions of online fans bragging about his lavish lifestyle. The brothers are both former kickboxers with dual U.S. and British citizenship.

They have been under criminal investigation in Romania on charges including human trafficking since December 2022, but the probes have yet to make it to trial. The Tates deny all wrong doing.