China's Xi Congratulates Ally Putin on Reelection

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has extended congratulations to Vladimir Putin after the Russian president unsurprisingly glided to a fifth term in an election characterized by a crackdown on dissenting voices and lack of meaningful opposition candidates.

Xi, who himself was handed an unprecedented third term by China's rubber-stamp legislature last year, said the election is a reflection of Putin's support among the Russian people, Chinese state media reported.

Putin garnered over 87 percent of the vote, according to Russia's Central Election Commission. Having already led Russia as president or prime minister for a quarter of a century, the latest plebiscite puts him on track to surpass former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's 29-year-tenure.

That could also mean another six years of strengthening economic and military ties between the Kremlin and Beijing.

China became an economic lifeline for Russia after the latter was hit with withering international sanctions following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. China stepped into a gap left by Western businesses, with bilateral trade rising by 26 percent to hit $240 billion last year, an upward trend that continued through February.

Ukrainian officials have reported finding Chinese drones and related components have been discovered on the battlefield. The Chinese government maintains it has never supplied weapons to Russia.

Russia will surely make great strides in national development under Putin's continued leadership, Xi reportedly told his counterpart in Moscow. Xi said China is prepared to stay in close communication with Russia as the two develop their "comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era."

The Chinese foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to a written request for comment.

"The polls have closed in Russia, following the illegal holding of elections on Ukrainian territory, a lack of choice for voters and no independent OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) monitoring. This is not what free and fair elections look like," British Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday.

The OSCE is a regional intergovernmental organization focused on security issues. It seeks to observe elections in its 57 members states, which include Russia.

The also-rans in the three-day election were token candidates who all support Putin's agenda. The Communist Party's Nikolai Kharitonov got 4 percent of the vote; the Liberal Democratic Party's ultra-nationalist candidate Leonid Slutsky received just under 4 percent, and the New People party's Vladislav Davankov got 6.65 percent.

The election took place just a month after the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was barred from running against Putin in 2018. U.S. President Joe Biden responded to the news by saying "Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. Putin is responsible."

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Navalny's death.