As always, there was more than money at stake at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) late last week, especially as the West tries to navigate political waves generated by the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. France's president was particularly interested in smooth sailing with Russia.

The May 25 forum wasn't French President Emmanuel Macron's first visit to Russia's cultural center. In 2013, he came with a delegation headed by President Francois Hollande for the G-20 summit as the president’s economic envoy.

Macron delivered a speech at the plenary session of this year's forum, where he was seated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, Vice President of China Wang Qishan and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde. The forum also featured a roundtable on Russian and French business relations and another on the Trianon Dialogue, a French-Russian forum focusing on civil society. Macron’s visit was supposed to give genuine impetus to French-Russian business contacts amid US and EU sanctions on Russia. More than 50 contracts were eventually signed between French and Russian companies.

Before his visit, Macron was not very positive about the trip, as his expectations regarding Russia were in fact quite low. Al-Monitor learned that in early April, Macron had decided to skip his planned visit to Moscow scheduled for right before SPIEF and go directly to St. Petersburg. The Elysee downgraded the status of Macron’s visit to St. Petersburg from what was initially planned to be a state visit to a working visit. The changes were made in light of the US, French and British airstrikes in Syria in mid-April and the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil in March, for which much of the Western world blames Russia. Russia denies the accusation.