Putin said at the St. Petersburg United Cultural Forum that Russia welcomes a U.S.-China negotiated deal favorable to the Russian economy, and reiterated that Russia and China are advancing major joint development projects such as the International Lunar Research Station.
With fuel prices rising, Russia's central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate from 14.5% to 14.25% on June 19, 2026, marking its ninth consecutive rate cut since a previous historic high of 21%.
Urals crude oil prices have begun to recover from the low of $39 per barrel in December 2025.
Russia's gold reserves have dropped from more than 400 tonnes before the war to 139 tonnes.
By mid-2025, the liquid assets of Russia's National Wealth Fund had fallen to only 2.8 trillion rubles, roughly 20 to 30 billion dollars.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Yeltsin implemented shock therapy in 1992 to liberalize prices; according to the video, inflation that year was about 2500%, residents' savings shrank dramatically, and the poverty rate rose sharply.