Addressing the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday June 19, the Russian President addressed the country’s economic prospects in face of the ongoing sanctions, saying “What I want to note, however, is that by the end of last year, as you know very well, people were predicting that we were in for a very deep crisis. This has not happened. We have stabilised the situation, absorbed the negative short-term fluctuations, and are now making our way forward confidently through this difficult patch.”