One Reason Why Putin Might Not Rush to Shed Sanctions Yet

Russian President Vladimir Putin may want to wait awhile longer before broaching the subject of sanctions with Donald Trump.

While a drag on the economy since 2014, the penalties have kept some pressure off the ruble even as it rallied in the past year on the back of stabilizing oil prices. If the U.S. eases its curbs, the Russian currency would appreciate 5 percent to 10 percent, according to a majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, with 41 percent of respondents predicting a gain of 1 percent to 5 percent.