Earlier in the day, before Putin's statement, the dollar and the Euro were showing strong gains against the ruble. In particular, the dollar exchange rate before Putin's statements was 59,16 per ruble, and after it fell to 59.08. The Euro also slowed the growth down from 69,84 per ruble to 69,63.
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The Russian economy suffered a setback in 2014, as the ruble lost about half of its value against the US dollar amid low global oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed against Russia over the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Crimea rejoined Russia in March, 2014 after the peninsula's referendum. According to the Russian official stance, the referendum was conducted in accordance with the international law. However, the reunification was not recognized by the Ukrainian authorities along with the majority of Western countries, in particular, US and EU member states.