Obama Aides Tell Executives to Skip Forum

WASHINGTON — The White House has pressured the chief executives of some of America’s largest energy, financial and industrial corporations into canceling plans to attend an international economic forum in Russia to be hosted by President Vladimir V. Putin this month, the latest effort to isolate Moscow in retaliation for its intervention in Ukraine.

The top executives of such giants as Alcoa, Goldman Sachs, PepsiCo, Morgan Stanley, ConocoPhillips and other multinational companies with business in Russia have either pulled out of the conference or plan to do so after an intensive lobbying campaign by President Obama’s advisers. Corporate officials predicted that nearly every American C.E.O. will now skip the forum in St. Petersburg.

The personal telephone calls from White House officials and cabinet secretaries have put the executives in an awkward position because they do not want to run afoul of the Obama administration, but they are acutely aware that Mr. Putin takes attendance at this event, which has become an important showcase for him on the world stage. Hoping to avoid alienating Mr. Putin at the risk of jeopardizing their operations and tens of thousands of employees in Russia, several companies are sending lower-level executives based in Moscow or Europe to the meeting from May 22 to 24.

The St. Petersburg forum, styled as Russia’s answer to the annual economic meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has thus become the latest battleground in the geopolitical contest of wills between Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin over the fate of Ukraine.

Although sanctions imposed by Mr. Obama do not legally preclude American companies from sending representatives to the gathering, administration officials have told the top executives that personally participating would make them propaganda tools for Mr. Putin, who could use their presence to refute the notion that he has been isolated internationally.

The pullout could be embarrassing for Mr. Putin, who attends the forum. As of Monday, the forum’s website was still trumpeting the participation of some American executives who now plan to skip the session. A picture of Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs, for instance, was shown on the site even as a company executive privately said “there’s almost zero chance” he will go unless the Ukraine situation suddenly reverses course.

Among the top administration officials who have been working the telephones are Valerie Jarrett, the president’s senior adviser and liaison to business; Jacob J. Lew, the Treasury secretary; Penny Pritzker, the commerce secretary; and Jeffrey D. Zients, the national economic adviser.

“They’ve basically been saying, ‘We’re not telling you what to do, but it wouldn’t look good,’ ” said an executive at one of the companies who received such a call, and who, like others, declined to be named to avoid offending either side in the dispute.

Some industry officials privately expressed frustration at being caught in the middle, and argued that cutting off business ties would worsen relations between the United States and Russia rather than improve them. They said European or Asian competitors may simply fill the void. “Nobody wants to get caught on the wrong side of anybody in this if they can help it,” said one such official. “Some companies are trying to do their best to avoid getting trapped in this minefield.”

The White House said American government officials will not attend the St. Petersburg forum this year. “Obviously, companies will have to make their own decisions, but we believe that the most senior business executives traveling to Russia to make high-profile appearances with Russian government officials at events such as this would send an inappropriate message,” said Laura Lucas Magnuson, a White House spokeswoman.

The situation has left many corporate executives anxious. At a closed meeting in Moscow of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia last week, representatives of United States firms expressed aggravation at being penalized either way. “The understanding is that those that choose to go will be on the Obama administration’s dog list,” concluded a participant’s summary of the session. “One U.S. executive at today’s meeting warned that Putin/Kremlin will closely watch which U.S. C.E.O.’s cancel and their Russia business will be impacted.”

The situation reflects a turnaround from a year ago, when the Obama administration encouraged participation to strengthen trade ties. The chief executives of General Electric, Deere & Company, Citigroup, MetLife, Alcoa, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Visa, Chevron, Hill & Knowlton Strategies and Cisco Systems attended last year.

Few, if any, of them will be there this month. Ryan Lance, chief executive of ConocoPhillips, has decided to skip the event, according to the company. Klaus Kleinfeld, chief executive of Alcoa and chairman of the United States-Russia Business Council, canceled plans to attend on Friday, citing “the U.S. government’s requirements.”

Boeing, which depends on Russia for much of its titanium, has registered Dennis A. Muilenburg, the chief operating officer, but a spokesman, John Dern, said, “We are certainly watching developments day by day.” ExxonMobil and Chevron would not say Monday whether their chief executives plan to return this year.

Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of G.E., never planned to go this year, a company spokeswoman said. Rachel Potts, a spokeswoman for Caterpillar, said the company “currently plans” to be represented this year by the group president, Donald James Umpleby III, but added, “We’re monitoring the situation closely.”

For some companies, the decision has been harder than for others. Industry officials said the situation has tormented PepsiCo, which made $4.9 billion in Russia last year, making it the company’s second-largest market, and Cargill, the agricultural producer that has invested more than $1 billion in Russia and has more than 3,000 employees there. Pepsi’s chief executive, Indra Nooyi, abruptly canceled last week, citing a scheduling conflict. Cargill has not disclosed its plans.

The situation comes at a delicate time for Morgan Stanley, which is in the middle of selling its commodities business to Rosneft, the largest Russian state-owned oil company, whose chief executive, Igor I. Sechin, is the subject of sanctions by the Obama administration. James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive, canceled his plans to travel to St. Petersburg on Friday.

“A lot of us waited,” said an executive at one firm that received a call from the White House, “but the situation’s not getting better.”

Clifford Krauss contributed reporting from Houston, and Andrew E. Kramer from Moscow.