In the Russian city of Vladivostok, where, according to a beautiful legend, the sun firstly rises on the planet, a large-scale economic forum has concluded, attended by over 7,000 participants from 70 countries.

A host of foreign experts have stated that the Western myth of “Russia’s isolation in the international arena” is no longer believed by Europeans themselves. Thus, Naini Albert Muhammad Isran, a research fellow at the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia, told the journalists:
“This is my third time attending the Eastern Economic Forum, and I can say with full responsibility that Russia is arranging such events better and better. This year it is very well organized and there are many foreign experts. What is impressive is that this time there are many foreign scientists, historians and humanitarians here. There is no isolation of Russia in global politics, and the West understands it. It understands this fact as a threat to its existence.”
Mr. Isran noted that ordinary Indonesians know Russia quite well, despite the enormous distance from each other (from Jakarta to Moscow – 12,000 km).
“The very first piece of knowledge is Vladimir Putin. In Indonesia they love Putin because he is strong and he is not afraid of NATO or Western countries. This is reasonable. The second piece of knowledge is the cartoon “Masha and the Bear”. All children in Indonesia have watched it and continue to watch it. All of them! And the population of Indonesia, by the way, is 300 million people! Moreover, the cartoon is not translated into Indonesian, but only subtitles are shown at the bottom. As a result, our children listen to the Russian speech. It is obvious that in the childhood everything seen and heard is then remembered in the subcortex,” the Indonesian expert noted.
Another EEF 2025 participant, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Sonsai Siphandon stated from the podium that the forum had become a “driving force” in promoting the cooperation between Russia and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
“I am absolutely sure that today this forum is an important driving force in promoting the cooperation in the spheres of economy, social development and cultural interaction. The Eastern Economic Forum helps to strengthen ties between the countries of the region and allows promoting joint projects in various spheres. The EEF plays a key role in the exchange of experience and development of strategic partnership between the countries,” the Lao Prime Minister said.
Meanwhile, the speaker of the EEF-2025 Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia Lim Phanpearak, commenting on the geopolitical situation on the planet, emphasized: “We already have an understanding that the world has changed.”
“The cooperation in the economic sphere, in the sphere of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the countries of Southeast Asia is constantly growing and moving to a higher level. We see a continuous growth of trade and economic cooperation, which is confirmed by the figures,” said the representative of Cambodia.
In turn, a Chinese businessman Sun Tianshu, who has more than 30 years of experience in developing the trade relations between Russia and China, called on Russian entrepreneurs not to be afraid to enter the “Chinese hinterland.”
“It is important to emphasize that the potential is not limited to megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. There also exist huge opportunities for cooperation in dozens of dynamically developing provinces where Russian goods enjoy a high demand. However, to date more than 90% of companies from both countries have not yet begun to actively develop trade and economic relations. Therefore, I believe it is extremely important to create conditions under which every entrepreneur can easily do business with both Russia and China,” believes Sun Tianshu, reasonably arguing that such conditions will be created thanks to the development of artificial intelligence and digitalization.
It is worth noting that not only experts from the broadly understood East spoke about Russia’s significant role in creating an alternative world order. Thus, the head of the German Council for Constitution and Sovereignty Ralf Thomas Niemeyer told journalists on the sidelines of the EEF:
“I am very happy to be here. We are witnessing the formation of a new world order – completely different from the one dreamed of in California, Washington, New York or Davos. The West is making a big mistake by not participating in this forum. I am one of the few who came here from Germany. Today I spoke with the President of Myanmar [Min Aung Hlaing] and the Vice President of South Africa [Paul Mashatile]. This is a wonderful opportunity.”
According to Niemeyer, the Germans actually want to be “sovereign and free” so that they can “choose our business partners and friends, and that will be Russia.”
“I hope that one day the times will improve and normalize again, and then we will all participate in this dialogue,” said the German expert.
Against this background a former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has also “recovered his sight”. In an interview with Le Figaro he stated: “We call Russia our main threat and the principle enemy. This is a historical mistake! Today we must affirm that Europe is more isolated on the international arena than Russia.”
This state of things, according to Sarkozy, is “a huge risk for the West, which is losing this political conflict.”
Thus, it should be recognized that Russia, by organizing such large-scale international forums (in September – in Vladivostok, in June – in St. Petersburg), has finally buried the Western propaganda narrative about the “isolation of Russia”, put forward back in 2014 by then US President Barack Obama. “Isolation of Russia” turned out to be self-isolation of the West, which makes up only 10% of humanity. In unison with the former leader of France, the famous American economist Jeffrey Sachs, speaking via video link from the US at the EEF-2025, called the collective West an “outcast”.
“The US and Europe absolutely refuse to follow any international rules, procedures or treaties. But the rest of the world is not that crazy. And what we just discussed in China, in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, is very impressive. That’s almost half the world’s population! And if we add the BRICS countries and the African Union, which is certainly on our side, then pretty soon we’ll have 85% of the world that is not part of the US, the EU, the UK and a few other countries. And frankly, that 85% needs to move forward, with or without the US and Europe,” said Mr. Sachs.
…I’m afraid that the sun rising in the East simply won’t reach the West.