Russia's GDP growth slows to 1.1% in Q2, says Rosstat
Soaring defence spending saw Russia's economy rebound from contraction in 2022 as Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, opens new tab took their toll, but this year officials have warned of recession risks as the economy cools.
Elevated interest rates for several months, as the central bank seeks to reduce stubbornly high inflation, have hampered Russia's economic growth prospects.
President Vladimir Putin has dismissed claims that the war in Ukraine is devastating Russia's economy, citing low debt and economic diversification as signs of resilience.
After GDP growth of 4.3% last year, the central bank forecasts a 1-2% rise this year, while the economy ministry has said it will tweak its current 2.5% forecast.
In late July, the International Monetary Fund raised its outlook for economic growth across emerging market and developing economies this year to 4.1% from 3.7%, driven by frontloading and a more upbeat view on China, but Russia was one of the few exceptions.
According to the IMF, Russia's economy is now expected to expand by 0.9% this year, compared with its previous view of 1.5% growth.
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The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘I have been fighting with Ukrainian soldiers for two years. Trump and Putin can't bring peace overnight'
A British volunteer fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against Russia has said that soldiers on the ground feel that Friday's summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska is 'a joke' and will not lead to peace. Drew Scott, a former British soldier who joined Ukraine's International Legion in 2023, told The Independent that Ukrainian soldiers were 'in it for the long haul' and not anticipating an imminent resolution to the conflict. Trump and Putin will meet face to face for the first time in seven years on Friday at a summit in Alaska, but Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky will not be present. Kyiv maintains that it will not cede any occupied land to Russia as part of a peace agreement. 'We know what ceasefires look like from the Russian side. Their mentality is to just keep on hammering a country with missiles until the will of the people is eradicated,' Scott said. 'But the stamina of the people over here is strong and that's why I love this country. There's only one way that peace will be restored here and that is when Russia pulls its troops from Ukraine.' An estimated 8,000 foreign volunteers, including hundreds of Britons, have joined the Ukrainian International Legion and other units within the Ukrainian military. Scott's call sign is 'Caesar' but he quickly points out that this was chosen by his comrades - not himself. He used his real name in this interview because the Russians identified him long ago. Pro-Kremlin websites have accused him of being a mercenary and offered a bounty for him, dead or alive. But speaking near a safe house his unit uses during rests from frontline duty, he refuted the allegation completely. 'I'm not a mercenary and those I care about know I'm not here for money. I came here because when I see women, children, innocent civilians being killed, injured and maimed, I just can't sit back and watch.' Scott was born in Newcastle in 1967, into a family with a history of military service. He was taken into Britain's elite Parachute regiment aged 20, and spent nine years with the their Third Battalion, including 30 months in Northern Ireland during 'The Troubles' and a spell with peace-keeping forces in Iraq. He became aware of Ukraine after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and decided to volunteer his military skills after Putin's 2022 full-blown invasion. He compared Russia's act of aggression to 'something from the age of Genghis Khan that shouldn't be happening in this day and age.' 'We each have a responsibility to fight against dictatorship and evil,' he added. 'And humanity has lost something when you can brush these horrors aside as if they're nothing.' Scott was 55 years old when he enlisted in the legion in 2023, leading some younger comrades to jokingly refer to him as 'grandad'. His experience from the British Army led to his swift promotion to lead a mortar platoon in the legion. Since, he has seen action in many of the war's most vicious battles in the east and southeast. 'All the nightmare places.' Typically, he said, the platoon digs trenches and bunkers in their new positions and the mortars are covered by camouflaged sliding roofs that open only to fire a salvo. In 2023 they could hope that these would remain concealed for long periods. Not anymore. 'Drones have changed everything, even in the last few months,' he said. 'There are swarms of attack drones in the sky and surveillance drones high up watching everything to identify our positions. Once they spot you they throw everything at you.' Recently his mortar post, comprising a bunker and tunnels, was spotted and attacked by Russian artillery and FPV (First Person View) suicide drones. 'An explosive drone came through the roof where we had our 82mm mortar in the tunnel……we were getting hammered by heavy artillery for about two hours….. then more FPVs came in. The soil was caving in on us. And then, boom, a great big cloud of smoke came through the tunnels into the bunker. And then another explosion came in and it just blew me off my feet.' Eventually, he said they managed to evacuate with only one man seriously injured while Scott only suffered a concussion. He is proud that nobody under his command has been killed although four have been injured. He said Russian drones have taken a terrible toll in deaths and injuries, including psychological scars. Scott said: 'It's a type of warfare that I wouldn't wish on anybody. You can see where a lot of the guys are going to suffer with mental health issues like PTSD. The buzzing sound of a drone is there at the front all the time. It gets to you and you think 'is this my time?'' He said that the sound of drones haunts soldiers even in peaceful settings. 'The sound of a blender in a kitchen, a lawnmower, an air-conditioner can freak you out.' Scott thinks the war is unlikely to end soon. 'What you have to remember is that Putin's a psychotic f****** maniac who'll do anything to remain in power.' Some believe Trump will try to strong arm Ukraine into permanently giving up territory to Russia. Scott said he and his comrades think 'that would be a total betrayal of the armed forces, of the guys who've paid the ultimate price and of families who have suffered over the years.' But he said 'the morale of the guys in our platoon, our battalion, is awesome.' 'We're in for the long haul. Until the Russians get their troops out.'
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
WhatsApp hits back at Russia over latest move
WhatsApp has accused Russia of attempting to block its encrypted messaging service, stating that Moscow 's actions are a direct response to its commitment to secure communication. The Meta-owned platform has vowed to continue making its end-to-end encrypted services available to users in Russia despite these restrictions. Russia has also begun imposing restrictions on certain Telegram and WhatsApp calls, alleging that these foreign-owned platforms have failed to provide law enforcement with information on fraud and terrorism cases. Reports in Russian media earlier this week indicated that users were experiencing disrupted calls on both WhatsApp and Telegram. Both platforms have a history of disputes with Russian authorities, with critics suggesting Russia is expanding its control over the country's internet space.
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
What are Putin and Trump trying to achieve in Alaska?
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Friday's summit in the US state of Alaska with contrasting priorities as they prepare for talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Putin has been consistent on his desire to win Ukrainian territory, while Trump has made no secret of his desire to act as a global peacemaker. But both men may also sense other opportunities, such as diplomatic rehabilitation on the world stage on the part of Putin. Second-guessing Trump's aims is harder, as he has recently made vacillating statements about his Russian a fuller look at what the two leaders might want from the meeting. Putin eyes international recognition... and more By Russia editor Steve RosenbergThe first thing Putin wants from this summit is something he's already been that's from the world's most powerful country, America, that Western efforts to isolate the Kremlin leader have fact that this high-level meeting is happening is testament to that, as is the joint press conference that the Kremlin has announced. The Kremlin can argue that Russia is back at the top table of global politics. "So much for being isolated," crowed the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets earlier this only has Putin secured a US-Russia summit, but a prime location for it. Alaska has much to offer the Kremlin. First, security. At its closest point, mainland Alaska is just 90km (55 miles) from Russia's Chukotka. Vladimir Putin can get there without flying over "hostile" it's a long way – a very long way - from Ukraine and Europe. That sits well with the Kremlin's determination to sideline Kyiv and EU leaders, and deal directly with America. There's historical symbolism, too. The fact that Tsarist Russia sold Alaska to America in the 19th Century is being used by Moscow to justify its attempt to change borders by force in the 21st Century."Alaska is a clear example that state borders can change, and that large territories can switch ownership," wrote Moskovsky Putin wants more than just international recognition and wants victory. He's been insisting that Russia keep all the land it has seized and occupied in four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson) and that Kyiv withdraw from the parts of those regions still under Ukrainian Ukraine this is unacceptable. "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier," says the country's president, Volodymyr Kremlin knows that. But if it secures Trump's support for its territorial demands, the calculation may be that rejection by Ukraine would result in Trump cutting all support for Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russia and the US would get on with boosting relations and developing economic there is another economy is under pressure. The budget deficit is rising, income from oil and gas exports economic problems are pushing Putin to end the war, the Kremlin may now, there's no sign of that - with Russian officials continuing to insist that Russia holds the initiative on the battlefield. Follow live updates ahead of the Trump-Putin summitEuropean leaders tentatively hopeful after call with Trump ahead of summit Trump seeks chance to claim progress toward peace By North America correspondent Anthony ZurcherTrump famously promised during his 2024 presidential campaign that ending the Ukraine war would be easy and that he could do it in a matter of promise has hung over the American president's efforts to resolve the conflict, as he has alternated between frustration with the Ukrainians and the Russians since returning to the White House in harangued Zelensky at a dramatic White House meeting in February, and later temporarily suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with the war-torn recent months, he's been more critical of Putin's intransigence and willingness to attack civilian targets, setting a series of deadlines for new sanctions on the Russians and other nations that do business with them. Last Friday was the most recent deadline, and as with all the ones before it, Trump ultimately backed he's hosting the Russian president on American soil and talking about "land-swapping", which Ukraine fears may consist of land concessions in exchange for any discussion about what Trump wants during his Friday talks with Putin is muddied by the president's vacillating statements and actions. This week, Trump has made a concerted effort to lower the expectations for this meeting – perhaps a tacit acknowledgement of the limited possibilities of a breakthrough with only one party in the war present. On Monday, he said the summit would be a "feel-out" meeting. He suggested that he would know if he could reach a deal with the Russian leader "probably in the first two minutes"."I may leave and say good luck, and that'll be the end," he added. "I may say this is not going to be settled."On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reinforced this message, calling the summit a "listening session".With Trump, it's often best to expect the unexpected. And Zelensky and European leaders spoke to him on Wednesday in an effort to ensure that he doesn't strike a deal with Putin that Ukraine won't – or can't – thing has been clear practically all year, however: Trump would welcome the chance to be the man who ends the war. In his inaugural address, he said he wanted his proudest legacy to be that of a "peacemaker". It is no secret that he longs for the international recognition of a Nobel Peace is not one to get bogged down in details. But if there is an opportunity for him to claim that he has made progress toward peace during the talks in Anchorage, he will take always a savvy negotiator, may seek a way to let Trump do just that – on Russia's terms, of course. Follow BBC's coverage of the war in Ukraine EXPLAINER: Where in Alaska is Trump meeting Putin and why?VISUALS: The war-ravaged Ukrainian territories in mapsVERIFY: Russian attacks on Ukraine double since Trump inaugurationGROUND REPORT: On Ukraine's front line, twisted wreckage shows sanctions haven't yet stopped Russia
