Putin Blames West for Russia’s Economic Crisis.
MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to fix Russia’s economic woes within two years, voicing confidence that the plummeting ruble will recover and promising to diversify Russia’s gas-dependent economy.
Speaking with strong emotion and looking confident, Putin also displayed a defiant stance toward the West, which he insisted was still trying to destroy Russia.
Putin acknowledged that Western economic sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine was just one factor behind Russia’s economic crisis, accounting for roughly 25 to 30 percent of the ruble’s troubles. He said a key reason for the currency’s recent fall was the nation’s failure to ease its overwhelming dependence on oil and gas exports.
As Putin spoke, the Russian currency was trading at 61 rubles to the dollar. That was slightly lower than last night but up 12 percent from the historic low of 80 to the dollar that it hit earlier this week. Russia’s benchmark MICEX index rallied by 5.5 percent by midday Thursday.
