It is estimated that rising trade tensions between the United States and the rest of the world could cost the global economy billions of dollars by 2020. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, agrees that unresolved trade frictions, especially between China and the U.S., are fueling anxiety among investors about global economic prospects.

After talking with more than 20 top investment funds from across the world at this year's World Economic Forum, Dmitriev found that business communities are very concerned about an economic growth slowdown if the US does not dial down its trade threats. He used the decision by the Trump administration to ban Huawei 5G equipment as an example. "Security concerns (over Huawei equipment) should be approached properly, instead of just applying pressure," Dmitriev said, “We believe it is very important for economies to stay competitive, and the U.S. should take a long term view (regarding restrictive trade measures)."

Dmitriev pointed out that Russia is also the victim of the punitive trade measures of the U.S. “Russia is supplying natural gas to Europe through the Nord Stream project. American gas is 40 percent more expensive than ours, but due to political and economic pressure, European countries are not buying a lot of Russian gas," Dmitriev said.

Aside from trade disputes, Dmitriev also talked about the cooperation between China and Russia. "China is one of Russia's key partners in global investment. We have set up a Russia-China Investment and Venture Fund with China Investment Corporation… 6 billion dollars' worth of joint projects has been planned. And we expect the cooperation to grow dramatically in the future."