A State Department official told Sputnik earlier in May that the US government has decided not to send any representatives to the June SPIEF, and cautioned American companies against attending or working with the Russian authorities.
"According to our information, main investors, who are currently in Russia, will attend the Forum," Zasypkin stated. "The American companies will obviously be represented. So it [the event] cannot be ignored. In any case, interested companies will be represented, and nothing will stop them."
SPIEF-2016 will be held in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on June 16-18.
Relations between Russia and the United States deteriorated in 2014, when the Washington and its allies accused Moscow of fueling the Ukrainian crisis and imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia. The restrictions targeted Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors.
Russia has repeatedly refuted Western allegations, warning that imposing sanctions is counterproductive. In response to the sanctions, Russia announced in August 2014 a food embargo on some products originating in states that had imposed restrictive measures on Moscow.
