Russia Remains Strong Despite Sanctions Pressure

By Xinhua 

September 19, 2023 

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) arrives for the ceremony of presenting credentials at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 5, 2020. China is taking "decisive and vigorous" measures to fight the novel coronavirus, Vladimir Putin said Wednesday at the ceremony of presenting credentials by ambassadors of 23 countries, including China. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

Russia has withstood the unprecedented pressure from Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

“We have withstood the absolutely unprecedented external pressure, the sanctions onslaught of some ruling elites in the … Western bloc … in individual countries that we call unfriendly,” Putin said during a meeting on the federal budget for 2024-2026.

“Russia’s GDP has reached the level of 2021, and now, it is important to create conditions for further stable and long-term development,” he said, announcing that the country’s economic recovery period is now complete.