Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said earlier during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that the economy is “on the verge of going into a recession.”

President Vladimir Putin on Friday urged officials not to let Russia fall into recession "under any circumstances", as some in his own government warned of a hit to economic growth. Economists have warned for months of a slowdown in the Russian economy,

President Vladimir Putin has praised Russia’s economic outlook, saying it has managed to curb inflation and ease its reliance on energy exports