The Russian rouble rose 2% against the U.S. dollar on Friday after the central bank and government joined President Vladimir Putin in verbal interventions aimed at calming forex market turmoil triggered by the latest round of U.S. sanctions.

By 1300 GMT the rouble was at 106.00 to the U.S. dollar after hitting 104.50 during the session. The Russian currency is at its weakest levels since March 2022, the first month of the Ukraine war.

Putin had said on Nov. 28 there was no need to panic about the fall of the rouble, and that its sometimes sharp fluctuations were related to budget payments and seasonal shifts.

Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said on Friday that the rouble will strengthen when temporary speculative factors and market nervousness are gone, but the economy will need to adapt to the new U.S. sanctions.

The central bank, which intervened in the forex market, stopping its foreign currency purchases from Nov. 28, said on Friday that the measure was working and that it had enough instruments in its arsenal to deal with market volatility.

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)