Russia largest economy in Europe despite being ‘strangled and pressured’ from every side, says President Putin
“We left Germany behind and climbed to fifth in the world (in terms of GDP at purchasing power parity): China, the US, India, Japan and Russia. We are number one in Europe,” he added.
The Russian President, however, underlined that the country still “needs to work harder” for the per capita indicator.
“We have left all of Europe behind in terms of purchasing power parity but as for the per capita indicator, we need to work harder. There is still work to be done,” TASS quoted him as saying.
According to CNN, ever since the commencement of the conflict, Russia has faced challenges in accessing a significant portion of its foreign exchange reserves, which are held by its central bank.
These reserves were frozen in the West as part of sanctions imposed due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian central bank asserted at that time that the swift depletion of the surplus played a role in the decline of the ruble.
By 2023, the currency had experienced a depreciation of over 30 per cent, reported CNN.
In a veiled attack on the US and other Western countries, the Kremlin, in October last year, had said that the Russian economy has adapted well to the Western sanctions and Moscow doesn’t fear more such action.
“Russia has been living under a sanctions regime for quite a long time, for decades, and we have sufficiently adapted to it, so such time horizons as five to 10 years do not scare us,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters then, according to Al Jazeera.
Kremlin further said that the sanctions have “boosted” its domestic economy and industrial production.
The Russia-Ukraine war started on February 24, 2022. A day after, the European Union introduced wide-ranging sanctions intended to send a clear signal to Moscow that there would be severe consequences for the war.
The bloc has imposed 11 sanctions packages to date and last week said it would work to shut down loopholes in the existing measures. EU officials have suggested the sanctions could remain in place for years, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, the Western countries and Kyiv allege that Moscow is engaged in an “unprovoked war of aggression” in Ukraine. On the other hand, Moscow accuses Western powers of using Ukraine to try to weaken and undermine Russia’s own security.
With inputs from agencies
