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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business

Putin T-shirts, Robots And The Taliban -- But Few Westerners At Russia's Davos

Vladimir Putin Russia Taliban Donald Trump United States Emmanuel Macron Moscow Shinzo Abe Ukraine Kremlin
France's Emmanuel Macron and Japan's Shinzo Abe sat on stage alongside Putin at SPIEF in 2018 (Credit: AFP)

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.

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.

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