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U.S. influencers and an administration official arrived in Russia just as Vladimir Putin, the country’s president, needed a publicity boost.

The small group of Americans flew in as the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, or SPIEF, often dubbed Russian Davos, opened on June 3 in the port city. The annual conference serves as a promotional vehicle for the country as Putin seeks to project strength and global power. Officials say this year they are receiving 20,000 guests from over 100 countries, with 76 countries sending high-level representatives.

Putin has increasingly faced setbacks on the battlefield as a Ukrainian drone strike campaign disrupts critical logistics routes and public support at home wanes. The forum opened to plumes of black smoke rising above St. Petersburg after a Ukrainian aerial attack damaged a naval base and an oil terminal, part of increased strikes targeting Russian oil infrastructure.

Candace Owens, a popular right-wing podcaster and a onetime ally of Donald Trump’s, became perhaps the most visible American guest at the forum, which also included Rodney Mims Cook Jr., chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which has been overseeing the White House ballroom construction. Elsewhere in Russia, manosphere bloggers Andrew and Tristan Tate, dual U.K.-U.S. citizens, have filmed from Moscow, where they took selfies in Red Square and sipped cocktails at a rooftop bar. They did not attend the forum.

Their presence may deliver a domestic propaganda victory to Putin, experts say, as Russians become dissatisfied with the cost of the war. The Ukrainian bombardments have constricted the supply of gas in the oil-rich country and there are reports of Russians in several regions having to line up at the pump for hours at a time.

“They want the propaganda value of implying that there’s some kind of economic thaw between the United States and Russia, which is not really the case,” said Michael Kimmage, the director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, a nonprofit policy research organization.

Russia’s troubles were sidelined at the St. Petersburg conference, which boasted a rich state media presence. A booth for RT, a state broadcaster sanctioned by the U.S., featured cocktails named Aperol Merz, referring to the German chancellor, and Long Epstein Island, named for the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. RT was sanctioned for its campaign to “recruit unwitting American influencers in support of their malign influence campaign,” according to a release by the U.S. Treasury Department at the time.

Owens granted an interview to RT host Rick Sanchez, a former U.S. journalist who relocated to Russia following the sanctions. The two sat elevated above a conference hall in front of a neon-green balloon with the letters “RT.” Owens spoke highly of the beauty of Moscow, where she toured the Kremlin and Red Square, describing it as clean and safe.

“I always call it the Cold War hangover,” she said in response to a question from Sanchez on Americans being taught to distrust Russia, “where there’s not really an explanation, but they just sort of tell you Russia is a no-no and a no-go.”

The U.S. State Department advises Americans not to travel to Russia for any reason “due to terrorism, unrest, wrongful detention and other risks.” Russian authorities have in the past detained and held American citizens on trumped-up charges in order to exchange them. “The risk of wrongful detention of U.S. citizens remains high,” the advisory says.

On her social media, Owens has posted picturesque images of Moscow, calling it “a magnificent city” while swatting away critics of the visit. She echoed the sentiment during her economic forum appearance, where she spoke primarily about the need for women to embrace traditional family dynamics.

“My main conclusion would be that we are grappling with the same issues, West and East, and I think something that we hit upon today was just the media messaging and constantly trying to make this division between what’s going on in Russia, what’s going on in America, and there are no similarities,” she said during her presentation. “My entire trip has revealed to me just how similar we are.”

A representative for Owens said she paid for her own travel and has not taken any money from Russia. On social media, Owens said the attention to her visit was so great that she was invited to see Putin speak at the forum Friday.

Cook, the administration official, spoke of his admiration for Russian culture at a forum event showing Russian and American films. He also appeared at a roundtable discussion seated between actor and Russian state envoy Steven Seagal and Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the Hermitage Museum, where he spoke about Trump’s ballroom project.

“Our nations share a profound appreciation for the arts,” he said at the film event. “From Tchaikovsky’s compositions performed in American concert halls to American jazz that found passionate audiences in Moscow, Russian literature and architecture has shaped generations of Americans, including me.”

Russian officials have characterized Cook’s appearance at the forum as a thaw in relations. Putin aide Yury Ushakov told Russian state media ahead of the event that it is the first time in nearly a decade that a U.S. official has participated in the forum.

“Naturally, the U.S. representatives will chat with our official representatives, officials and art figures, and a discussion is expected of numerous issues on the U.S.-Russian cultural agenda,” Ushakov said, according to state media.

This seemingly caused confusion back in Washington, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was “not aware” of a U.S. delegation attending the forum. Russian state media quoted Cook as saying that Trump and the State Department allowed for him to attend.

Such confusion reflects the fact that the Trump administration has signaled Russia could be a financial partner for Americans, said Luke Coffey, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center on Europe and Eurasia, a Washington think tank.

“He shows up to St. Petersburg at a time when, just this week, Russia launched the largest airstrikes of the war against Ukraine,” Coffey said. “He shows up while Ukrainian drones are hitting oil refineries in St. Petersburg, and there’s black smoke in the air, to give a presentation about President Trump’s ballroom to a Russian and international audience of misfits. I mean, like, what is going on here?”

Not attending the forum are brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who were greeted with Russian dance and national song on arrival. The brothers have been charged with rape and human trafficking in an ongoing case in the U.K. They have denied the charges. The two posted from a visit to a church and a Moscow park where they played chess.

A representative for the brothers said they visited to “see how the country works, understand how people live, and talk about it based on what they actually experience.”

“The brothers believe people in different countries do not need to agree on everything to benefit from honest conversation, and peace is more likely when serious people are willing to meet, talk and compare reality with rhetoric,” said the representative. The brothers have not been paid for the trip, the representative said.

Despite millions of combined followers and a victory for internal Russian propaganda, experts are skeptical whether the presence of American visitors will move the needle on public opinion about the country within the U.S.

“If their goal was to change minds in America, I would say it’s largely irrelevant,” said Coffey. “If their goal was to message to their domestic audience that Russia isn’t isolated and engages with Americans, it was a small victory.”