On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin published a list of foreign leaders who congratulated him on the upcoming 2024 and Christmas.
Among those sent congratulations, as last year, there are almost no leaders of so-called unfriendly countries – states that support Ukraine in the war with Russia. The exception is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
It should be noted that Hungary is a member of the European Union and NATO, but compared to its allies, it takes a different position on the war in Ukraine, and Orban is the only Western leader who has met with Putin in the last year.
… The President of Russia confirmed his commitment to the continuation of constructive, pragmatic interaction that enables the implementation of important joint economic projects that fully meet the interests of the peoples of Russia and Hungary.
According to information obtained by SIA from Russian websites, the Kremlin website says so.
It should be noted that the Russian President also congratulated the President of NATO member Turkey, Recep Erdogan.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was among those who received the congratulations.
Both countries have not joined the sanctions imposed by the Western countries against Russia in connection with the intervention in Ukraine.
In addition, all three, Orban, Vucic and Erdogan, received congratulations from Putin last year.
And for the first time, the Russian president did not congratulate Western leaders. Unlike last year, this time Putin also congratulated Pope Francis.
The Pope repeatedly condemned the death of civilians in Ukraine and prayed for the people of that country, but did not directly accuse Russia of aggression or criticize Putin.
Among the other persons congratulated by Putin are the leaders of the CIS countries (except Moldova), Leaders of the BRICS countries (India, China, South Africa and Brazil), as well as the leaders of a number of neutral or pro-Russian countries. At the same time, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the leaders of a number of African countries who declared their friendship with Russia are not mentioned.
In addition, Vladimir Putin congratulated a number of former foreign heads of state and government, including Robert Kocharyan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Serzh Sargsyan, Nicolas Sarkozy, Gerhard Schröder on Christmas and the upcoming New Year.
Agasaf Babayev
