Putin says Russia's GDP to decline 'around 2%'

Russia will post a budget surplus this year, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, as the Russian economy is on track to post a small contraction for the year.

Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok, Putin said Russia's budget surplus would come in at 1.5 trillion roubles ($24.5 billion) in 2022, while GDP would fall by "around 2% or a little more."

Eyeing a pivot to Asia, Putin said that it was "impossible" to isolate Russia and hailed Asia's growing global influence, as Moscow looks east in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions over Ukraine.


Washington and Brussels have pummelled Moscow with a barrage of economic and personal sanctions after Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Facing deteriorating ties with Western capitals, Moscow is seeking to pivot the country towards the Middle East, Asia and Africa. "No matter how much someone would like to isolate Russia, it is impossible to do this," Putin told the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's Pacific port city of Vladivostok.

He said the coronavirus pandemic has been replaced by other global challenges "threatening the whole world", including "sanctions fever in the West".

Putin has repeatedly insisted that Russia's economy is weathering the barrage of sanctions well, as the Kremlin's ties with the West sink to new lows.

(With inputs from AFP and Rueters)