China, India hail Putin election gain; West brands it ‘undemocratic’

China, India hail Putin election gain; West brands it ‘undemocratic’

by AFP Workers Writers

Paris (AFP) Mar 18, 2024

Allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, including China and India, on Monday congratulated him on winning a fifth term quite than job however Western powers denounced the election as illegitimate, held below repressive conditions with no credible opposition.

Right here’s a roundup of the significant reactions to a vote that officially saw the 71-year-primitive Putin gain with 87.28 p.c of votes in keeping with perchance the most traditional count:

– China: standard ‘give a take to’ –

– Beijing congratulated Putin, announcing that the countries had been “strategic cooperative companions in the brand new technology” and that the consequence “totally reflects the give a take to of the Russian folks”, Chinese language order media reported.

– Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his “heat congratulations” to Putin, including that he regarded forward to increasing their “special” relationship. Russia is India’s greatest palms vendor.

– North Korea’s Kim Jong Un acknowledged Russian voters confirmed their “unshakeable give a take to and belief” in Putin, in keeping with the Korean Central Info Agency (KCNA).

– US, Britain: ‘undemocratic’ –

Western powers rejected the elections as neither free nor beautiful.

“This used to be an extremely undemocratic job,” US Divulge Department spokesman Vedant Patel acknowledged, citing repression of the opposition and media.

Patel acknowledged Putin “is liable to dwell the president of Russia, however that does now not excuse him of his autocracy”.

– British International Minister David Cameron acknowledged that the retaining of elections on occupied Ukrainian territory used to be “illegal”. He added that the elections “starkly underline the depth of repression below President Putin’s regime, which seeks to silence any opposition to his illegal war”.

– Middle East allies –

Loads of Middle Eastern powers wished Putin well after the vote, factual three months after he made a rare visit to the living.

– Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the Russian leader on his re-election and offered to mediate between Moscow and Ukraine, the Turkish presidency acknowledged.

“President Erdogan expressed his belief that the positive evolution of relatives between Turkey and Russia had been persevering with and acknowledged that Turkey used to be ready to play a facilitator honest to return to the negotiating desk with Ukraine,” Erdogan’s plight of job acknowledged after a phone call between the 2 leaders.

– Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi hailed Putin’s “decisive victory”, whereas Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wished him “success and prosperity”.

– Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, each one by one wished Putin “style and prosperity”, and the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also sent congratulations.

– African give a take to –

Mali’s military ruler Assimi Goita, who has embraced Russia after breaking ties with its primitive ally France, hailed Putin’s victory.

“As a strategic and accurate partner of Mali, I reiterate our total friendship,” Goita acknowledged on social media.

Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, son of the nation’s gradual longtime leader Idriss Deby, acknowledged in a Facebook submit that the consequence used to be “proof of the Russian folks’s belief” in Putin.

Niger’s military ruler Accepted Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized energy from a genuine-Western authorities in a July 2023 coup, congratulated Putin on his “resounding victory”.

He acknowledged his nation may perchance well count on Putin’s “non-public commitment” to assisting Niger in “regaining its sovereignty”.

– Venezuela: ‘bodes well’ –

– In Latin The US, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro acknowledged: “Our older brother Vladimir Putin has triumphed, which bodes well for the world.”

– Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel acknowledged that the loyal consequence used to be “a first fee indication that the Russian population helps (Putin’s) management of the nation”.

– Zelensky: ‘shocking’ –

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brushed apart the election as illegitimate.

“Everyone in the world understands that this particular person, like many others in the course of history, has develop to be ill with energy and may perchance well fair pause at nothing to rule endlessly,” he acknowledged.

“There may perchance be never always a shocking he wouldn’t develop to withhold his non-public energy.”

– EU: ‘repression’ –

– European Union countries acknowledged in a joint assertion that Russians had been denied a “valid replacement” in spite of all the pieces candidates adverse to the war in Ukraine had been excluded.

EU foreign coverage chief Josep Borrell acknowledged the vote used to be “in line with repression and intimidation”.

The 27-nation bloc did now not, however, label a call from the widow of leading Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny now not to recognise Putin as the legitimate president of Russia.

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, acknowledged the vote “without replacement” demonstrated “Putin’s execrable behaviour in opposition to his contain folks”.

France’s foreign ministry acknowledged the conditions for a free election weren’t met, citing “rising repression of civil society and all forms of opposition to the regime”. It hailed the “courage” of Russians who demonstrated in opposition to the election conditions.

– Discord in Italy –

– Italian International Minister Antonio Tajani condemned the vote as “neither free nor beautiful”.

He distanced himself from his coalition partner Matteo Salvini, who acknowledged in response to the election consequence: “When a folks vote, they are continuously correct.”

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