The Russian president said Ukraine must recognize 2022 referenda results in four regions he claims to have annexed.

Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said earlier during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that the economy is “on the verge of going into a recession.”

Russia shows no signs it plans to wind down its war in Ukraine, with an estimated 695,000 troops deployed across an expanded front line and another 121,000 in strategic reserve, according to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.