Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia’s president for the fifth time on May 7 in a ceremony that was boycotted by most Western countries because of his war in Ukraine and an election victory they rejected.
Putin, 71, was sworn in as president at a ceremony at Moscow’s Kremlin Palace attended by senior Russian politicians and dignitaries, although representatives from the United States, Britain, Canada and most members of the European Union were absent.
Speaking after taking the oath, Putin said he did not rule out dialogue with the West, but that it should be on an equal footing, and that Russia was open to developing relations with other countries, which he called “the majority in the world.”
“We do not refuse dialogue with Western countries. The choice is theirs: do they intend to continue trying to restrain the development of Russia, to continue the policy of aggression that has not stopped for years, to put pressure on our country, or to look for a way to cooperation and peace,” he said.
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Putin, who has ruled the country as either president or prime minister since 2000, is on pace to surpass Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s nearly 30-year rule by the end of his new term.
“We certainly did not consider these elections to be free and fair, but he is the president of Russia and he is going to continue in that position,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said before the inauguration.
The election was the first since Putin launched a war against neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, and two anti-war candidates were also barred from running on technicalities.
Meanwhile, political opponent Alexei Navalny died in a Siberian prison a month before Russians went to the polls.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War, with Kiev’s Western allies supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.
