Russian President Putin won his election with and unrealistic 87% of the vote. According to the Telegraph, Lord Cameron has said Vladimir Putin’s election victory highlights the “depth of repression” in Russia.
“These Russian elections starkly underline the depth of repression under President Putin’s regime, which seeks to silence any opposition to his illegal war,” the foreign secretary said in a statement, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.
”Putin removes his political opponents, controls the media, and then crowns himself the winner. This is not democracy,” Cameron said.
His comments come as Western leaders roundly condemn the election outcome. Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign minister, described the “scripted” process as a “tragic farce,” while Emmanuel Macron, the French president, indicated that he would not “congratulate” Putin.
He Supported Releasing Navalny
Putin secured his fifth term in Sunday’s elections, allowing him to rule until at least 2030.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said early Monday that he supported an idea to release late opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a prisoner exchange just days before he died, reports Korea Times.
In his first comments to address Navalny’s death, Putin said of the dissident’s demise: “It happens. There is nothing you can do about it. It’s life.”
The remarks were unusual in that he repeatedly referenced Navalny by his name for the first time in years — and that they came at a late-night news conference as results poured in from the presidential election.
Putin’s Victory Speech
In his victory speech, Putin said, “I dreamed of a strong, independent, sovereign Russia,” and the vote “will allow us all, together with the Russian people, to achieve these goals.”
This year’s election was marked by a record-high voter turnout of over 74%, with Putin winning over 87% [He sure is a popular dictator]. The Russian president stressed that while the results would be good for a mono-ethnic state – for a multi-ethnic country like Russia, they are “uniquely exceptional.”
Russia has repelled multiple attempts by Ukrainian sabotage groups to break into its territory over the past week, with Putin saying that “the enemy has deployed a group of about five thousand people, and their losses are about 40%.”
“And those who crawled into our territory were destroyed almost 100%… If the enemy likes a ‘meat grinder,’ we benefit from it.”
Moscow has always favored peace talks, claimed Putin, as long as the opponents are serious about establishing good neighborly relations in the long term, not just because “the adversary has run out of ammunition,” Putin said.
He added that Russia is ready to consider various scenarios, provided that they align with the national interest. But, since Kiev barred talks with the current leadership in Moscow, and President Vladimir Zelensky has no intention to hold elections, it will require “painstaking research” to even figure out “who to negotiate with over there,” Putin noted.
Weighing in on the possibility of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, Putin said that “anything is possible in the modern world” and warned that it “would be one step shy of a full-scale World War III.”
“I don’t think that anyone is interested in that,” he added, stressing that Moscow was well aware of the US-led military bloc’s push to deploy troops in Ukraine.
Putin urged the nation to remain united for a stronger, independent Russia so they can complete the agenda.
Subscribe to the Daily Newsletter
