Russian leader Vladimir Putin said his country could focus on both "guns and butter," but sanctions have helped fuel surging prices for the dairy product.Contributor/Getty ImagesPutin has been pledging that his country can focus on both "guns and butter" as it fights in Ukraine.Yet it's precisely butter that's been a headache for Russia, with a 25.7% price increase this year.The surging cost is raising fears of renewed inflation in Russia amid sanctions and war production.A year into his war on Ukraine, Russian leader Vladimir Putin told his country that its new focus on weapons production wouldn't tank its economy."There is a well-known phrase: guns instead of butter," Putin said last February."The country's defense is, of course, the most important priority, but, in solving strategic tasks in this area, we must not repeat the mistakes of the past, we must not destroy our own economy," he said, citing burgeoning wheat production at the time.In May, Putin once again ordered his government to continue aiming for that goal, telling officials to focus on both "guns and butter" — rejecting the adage that countries have to choose between military and civilian spending.Yet as the war grinds on, the last few months have been especially rough on Russian consumers.