Putin T-shirts and robots – few Westerners – at Russian 'Davos'

Russia's flagship economic forum kicked off Wednesday with stalls selling Vladimir Putin-themed merchandise and humanoid robots, but Westerners were few and far between, despite warming ties between Moscow and Washington under Donald Trump.

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Once dubbed “Russia's Davos”, the annual Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (Spief) is designed to attract foreign investment and is the biggest showcase of Russian technology and business.

Some 20,000 guests from 140 countries were expected to take part in the forum over four days, both online and in person, according to the Kremlin.

But for the fourth year running, high-profile European and American representatives have been absent amid Moscow's offensive on Ukraine, a stark contrast to before the conflict, when some Western leaders would attend.

Among the states sending high-level government figures this year were the likes of China, Vietnam, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso.

Taliban officials were also spotted at the expo, amid Russia’s push to normalise ties with the militant Islamist group.

Russian officials said some Western executives would attend.

“American business representatives, but I can’t say at what level,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.

According to the official programme, not a particularly high one.