Petersburg Economic Forum and Russia

economic conditions: This is largely the result of Moscow inability to define a new strategy toward the West, according to The Moscow Times. Everyone understands that the old way of doing things will not return anytime soon, but that the new form of relations remains unclear. Petersburg Economic Forum showed that Russia continues struggling to develop a strategy suited to the new economic conditions. Russia political elite intuitively understands that they cannot long endure the new "Cold War," but that nobody in the West is inviting them to a "Yalta II" conference to carve the world into spheres of influence either. It is not enough to simply say that Russia is "turning toward the East." The situation demands more than simply pumping oil and gas eastward rather than westward. Neither is it clear how Russia can build relations with the East since that friendship is motivated not so much by a desire to become immersed in Asian civilization as it is a reaction to "insults" from the "two-faced" West that fails to understand Russia. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.