Putin: Russia Partnership With Other Countries Not Limited to Trade

Earlier in the day, President Putin chaired a meeting with the government. He stressed the importance of economic development and called on the ministers to treat illegitimate sanctions against Russia seriously.

Vladimir Putin stressed that the the volume of Russia's foreign trade turnover with its main partners is growing.

"First of all, with regard to foreign trade turnover. Its volumes with our main partners are growing, thanks to the restructuring of logistics. As of the end of February, the volume of loading on the railway increased, the preliminary data of March indicate a further improvement in this dynamics, and this, as we know, a very good indicator of what is going on in real life. The problem of overstocking of the Far Eastern ports has been solved, today they operate in a normal, planned mode," Putin said.

Another important economic indicator is inflation. It will be below 4% in March and will continue falling in the future, Putin stressed.

"By the end of March, inflation will fall below 4%. According to some estimates, it will continue to slow down, which means that real incomes of citizens should increase," head of state pointed out .

However Putin warns that economic success should not lead to complacency since sanctions against Moscow may have a negative effect on the state of affairs in Russia's economy in the future.

"The illegitimate restrictions imposed on the Russian economy in the medium term may indeed have a negative impact on it. In this regard, we need to ensure a steady increase in domestic demand," Putin concluded.

Last year, Western governments began to impose sweeping sanctions on the Russian economy in the wake of Moscow's special op in Ukraine. However, as a result these restrictions backfired on the Western economies since inflation soared to record highs while societies were driven to cost of living crisis.

At the same time Russian economy proved to be far more resilent than Western politicians believed. Vladimir Putin previously stressed that Russia managed to bost its economic sovereignty amidst Western sanctions.