The Kremlin "will not justify ourselves" in response to Western criticism of President Vladimir Putin's re-election in last weekend's presidential poll, an aide to the Russian leader has said, after the U.S. described the contest as "undemocratic."
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesperson, told Newsweek in a statement on Wednesday that the Russian leader's "landslide victory reflects two things: the extent of consolidation of society around the president's agenda and the scant numbers of those in opposition to him."
"There have been no serious protests or acts of vandalism either in Russia, or abroad—only singular cases," Peskov said, responding to several cases of vote spoiling or arson inside Russia and sustained demonstrations at polling stations abroad.
"All willing observers from other countries came to the election, could monitor the process with their own eyes and obtained all the necessary information," Peskov continued. "We are not going to justify ourselves in front of anybody."
"We didn't invite ODIHR, OSCE or PACE representatives on purpose, because we regard their attempts to interfere in our internal affairs as unacceptable," he said.
Putin claimed his sixth term in power with a reported 87.28 percent of the vote; his highest-ever reported electoral tally. The 71-year-old will now begin a term that—if completed—will see him overtake Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to become Russia's longest-serving leader for more than 200 years.
"We have many tasks ahead," Putin said at a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Moscow early on Monday morning. "But when we are consolidated—no matter who wants to intimidate us, suppress us—nobody has ever succeeded in history, they have not succeeded now, and they will not succeed ever in the future."
The election result came as no surprise. Modern Russian elections are carefully choreographed by the Kremlin, with only pre-vetted opposition candidates allowed to stand. Those deemed problematic—like anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin—are barred.
Anti-Putin opposition has been steadily suppressed over more than two decades of his rule, and the Kremlin has leveraged its 2022 war on Ukraine to further cow domestic dissidents. The bleak outlook for pro-democracy activists was underscored last month by the death in an Arctic Penal colony of unofficial opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the presidents of Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela, among others, all congratulated Putin on his election victory. But the reaction in the West was dour.
"Russia's recent presidential election occurred in an environment of intense repression of independent voices and the imprisonment, death, or exile of virtually all genuine political opposition," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Kremlin has denied its citizens a transparent, meaningful democratic process. Against this backdrop, this election can only be described as undemocratic," he added, describing the votes held in the occupied territories of Ukraine as a "sham" and a "blatant propaganda exercise."
"Vladimir Putin is depriving Russian citizens of access to information, including to inform political participation," Blinken said. "Regardless of the pre-determined outcome of this election, the United States will continue to stand with those who are pursuing a brighter future for Russia."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO, the European ... Read more
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