Russia recorded in 2024 a budget deficit exceeding three trillion rubles for the third consecutive year, soaring to 3.49 trillion rubles ($34.39 billion), according to the country's finance ministry.

The Russian leader is reportedly facing growing pressure from Russia's elite to engage in peace talks to end the war.

Experts who spoke to VOA Russian note this has become a steady trend that the Kremlin has so far been unable to reverse, even with larger injections of cash into state-owned media outlets.