New Delhi, June 6 -- The accusation came not in a speech but at a press conference, and it carried the particular weight that off-the-cuff remarks sometimes do. Anton Kobyakov, adviser to President Vladimir Putin and the man who runs the organizing machinery of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, told reporters on Saturday that Russia has extended the same offer to the world for years - pragmatic partnership, economic cooperation, no preconditions - and that the West keeps declining it in favor of war.

pragmatic partnership and cooperation," Kobyakov said. "Most countries in Africa, South America, and Asia see and clearly record everything that is happening."

That the remark arrived on the final day of SPIEF 2026, the Kreml...