US says Russia's economy is growing slowly because of Ukraine, Moscow confident of overcoming "lightning" sanctions from the West

The Financial Times cited a draft from the US Treasury Department showing that the conflict in Ukraine is significantly impacting the Russian economy, increasing domestic prices and forcing the country to spend one-third of its budget on defense.

Despite sanctions, Russian economy will grow by more than 3%. (Source: TASS)

Moscow has spent more than $100 billion, or nearly a third of its total defense spending, by 2023, the source said.

Russia's economy would have grown more than 5% if it had not launched a military campaign in Ukraine, said Rachel Lyngaas, chief economist for sanctions at the US Treasury Department.

Expert Rachel Lyngaas commented that Moscow's economic growth rate is slower than other energy exporting countries, including the US.

The mainstay of the country's economy - oil and gas revenue - has been hit hard this year, although there has been a slight recovery in recent months as oil prices have stabilized, Reuters news agency reported.

However, Western sanctions on Russia's oil trade have not had as big an impact as initially expected.

On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently declared that the West's "lightning" sanctions against the country's economy have completely failed. He said: "Despite the sanctions, the country's economic growth will increase by more than 3%, while other economies such as Germany will fall into recession.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the economic context is changing in a direction unfavorable to the West.

Speaking after the state-level award ceremony at the Kremlin on December 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke out about the pressure that the West has put on Russia.

"The West is trying to marginalize Moscow to weaken and ultimately crush Russia. But they will not succeed, they never will," he stressed.

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