Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was no need to panic about the fall of the rouble in recent days, saying the currency's sometimes sharp fluctuations were related to budget payments and seasonal shifts.

The rouble was rebounding on Thursday from a more than 7% slide against the U.S. dollar to around the 115 mark in the previous session. The recovery came after the central bank intervened on the FX market to support the currency.

"As far as fluctuations in the rouble rate are concerned, this is linked not only to inflationary processes, but with payments to the budget, oil prices," said Putin, speaking after a security summit in Kazakhstan.

"There are a lot of seasonal factors. So, on the whole, in my view, the situation is under control and there are absolutely no reasons to panic," he said.

Putin and other officials have sought to spread calm through Russian financial markets since the rouble's fall. Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov blamed the slump on the global strength of the dollar.

But analysts and economists attribute it in part to rising geopolitical tensions since Western nations allowed Ukraine to fire their long-range missiles deeper into Russian territory last week, and Russia replied by firing a new missile at Ukraine. They say new U.S. sanctions on Gazprombank last week were also a factor.

Dmitry Pyanov, finance chief at VTB, said the sanctions on Gazprombank, a crucial player in exports of Russian gas, had triggered panic buying in the currency market and were behind the rouble's slide.

Russia is grappling with high inflation and the central bank has already hiked its key rate to 21%, which has drawn criticism from businesses struggling with exorbitant borrowing costs.

"There are tools that allow you to fight inflation without raising the key rate," Putin said. "But it is the specialists of the central bank ... that should make the final decision."