President Dmitry Medvedev says Russian stocks are suffering mainly because of the ongoing global financial crisis, not because of internal problems, reported Reuters.
His comments are the latest effort by Russian officials to calm the tumult in Russia's stock markets and economy.
Russian equities have been hammered this week and the country's top banker has warned of a liquidity crisis among the banking sector.
Medvedev told a group of visiting foreign policy experts Friday that most of the losses are coming from the global downturn.
He says that 25 percent is from Russia's own investment problems, "including the consequences of the war in the Caucasus."
He says Russia will always be attractive for investors, because of its geography and intellectual potential.