Kremlin announced today that journalists from “unfriendly countries” will not be allowed to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which President Vladimir Putin serves as a showcase for the Russian economy for international investors.

The forum in St. Petersburg, the former imperial capital built by Tsar Peter the Great 300 years ago as a “window” to Europe, has been held since 1997 and is seen by many officials as Russia’s answer to the Davos World Economic Forum.

Western journalists have never been banned from the forum at all.

“This time, a decision was indeed made not to accredit SPIEF publications from unfriendly countries,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS, using the abbreviation forum.

“Interest in SPIEF is always high, all other journalists will work on the spot,” Peskov said. “Unfriendly countries” is how Moscow calls the countries that have imposed sanctions against it because of the war in Ukraine.

The Reuters office in Moscow yesterday, on Friday, was informed by the organizers of the forum that the accreditation of its journalists was canceled after they had previously received confirmation of their accreditation.

Reuters requested a written clarification, but has not yet received one.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}