Russia's President Vladimir Putin laid out a plan of economic recovery on Friday but it did little to stop the losing streak of the ruble which has so far plunged 45 percent against the US dollar.

Putin pledged to make Russia's economy stronger and expected it to recover in the next two years but analysts said he fell short of setting a clear path away from the currency crisis.

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Western economic sanctions over Russia's intervention in Ukraine, coupled with falling oil prices and financial regulators' inability to defend ruble despite hefty interest rate hikes in the past week all sent the ruble tumbling.

Putin ruled out compelling the country's exporters to sell their dollar earnings, adding Russia's central bank should not exhaust its dollar reserves to shore up the ruble's value.

On Thursday, the ruble was traded at 61.00 against the dollar and it fell against the euro during Putin's economic briefing. It recovered 0.1 percent stronger at 75.05 after the Russian leader wrapped up his speech.

Oil traded higher on Thursday with a barrel of Brent crude up more than 3 percent to over $63 a barrel.

Putin called financial sanctions against Russia "illegitimate," blaming Saudi Arabia and the US for a possible conspiracy to bring down the price of oil to put Russia in Bind. He found it "illogical" that he caused a breakdown in relations with Europe and the US.

He mentioned the network of US military bases worldwide and Washington's anti-ballistic missiles spread around Europe to support his argument that Russia is far from being the aggressor. He also compared the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to the building of the Berlin Wall.

Putin said he sought a diplomatic way to end the Ukraine crisis. He did prescribe a political solution based on basic international law, including the right of any state to self-determination.

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