Creation of Russia's Technological Sovereignty to Be Discussed at SPIEF, Kremlin Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The initiative to create Russia’s technological sovereignty, which is necessitated by the changing political and economic circumstances in the world, will be discussed at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"Everyone has different views on our technological sovereignty, our economic sovereignty. In general, since everything is changing in the world - in politics, in security, in trade, in the economy and in macroeconomics - this question is probably of interest to everyone. Therefore, this is an area of discussion. I am confident that this topic will also be widely discussed during the SPIEF", Peskov said, commenting on the idea floated by the Special Representative of the President on Digital and Technological Development to make Russia a "technological island".

The spokesman noted that technological sovereignty does not mean the isolation of the country.

"No. Obviously, no one talks about isolation. Isolation is a bad thing. On the contrary, we say that isolating Russia is impossible even though unfriendly, or more precisely hostile to us countries are trying to isolate us economically, commercially and politically", Peskov added.

The jubilee 25th SPIF will be held in St. Petersburg from 15-18 June. Participation in the forum this year was confirmed by representatives from 90 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, China and India.