This was the first time the Russian leader spoke on the subject; Speech comes after he has boasted over the past few months about the country’s ability to adapt to this new situation
EFE/EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL MANDATORY CREDIT
For the first time since the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine, the Russian leader Wladimir Putin, acknowledged that Western sanctions could have a negative impact on the Russian economy in the medium term. “The sanctions imposed on the Russian economy could have a really negative impact on it in the medium term,” the president said at a televised meeting with the government. The speech comes after he has boasted over the past few months about the country’s ability to adapt to this new situation. On Wednesday, the Kremlin also declared that the hybrid war between Russia and the Western powers would continue for a long time. “If we talk about war in a broader sense, about confrontation with Western countries, this hybrid war, it will last a long time,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. More than a year after the start of the offensive in Ukraine“Unemployment is at its lowest point” at 3.6% and “Inflation will fall below 4% at the end of March” after rising to almost 20% a year ago, the Russian President explained.
“The return to the path of growth must not upset us,” he added in his speech, in which he called for efforts to “guarantee the country’s economic sovereignty Russia“. Putin appealed to the government and businessmen to ensure “the rapid launch of new projects in manufacturing, especially high technology,” a sector affected by the exodus of countless specialists abroad. “Our financial system has an important role to play in meeting the needs of exporters. And we need to replace Western companies operating in this sector,” he stressed. “This does not mean that all problems have been solved,” he warned his cabinet members.