Vladimir Putin promised the Russians on Tuesday during his inauguration speech launching his fifth term in the Kremlin that they would win “together” and emerge “stronger” from a “difficult period”, in the midst of the armed conflict against Ukraine.
“We are a united and great people, and together we will overcome all obstacles (…) Together we will win,” he declared, in front of around 2,500 people, including the Russian political elite and fighters participating in the assault on Ukrainian soil.
“We will get through this difficult period with dignity and become even stronger,” assured the Russian president, saying “to look forward with confidence,” according to an AFP journalist present on site.
“We will determine the destiny of Russia by ourselves and only by ourselves, for the good of current and future generations,” he further underlined, in a speech also broadcast on all television channels Russian state.
The outcome of the offensive launched by its army on February 24, 2022, however, still seems uncertain, and many challenges have emerged, between the consequences of Western sanctions, high inflation and the departure abroad of hundreds of thousands of Russians opposed to the conflict.
The Russian president deemed a discussion with the West “on issues of security and strategic stability” “possible”, but “only on an equal footing, respecting the interests of each”.
Vladimir Putin also considered the duty to lead Russia, a country of more than 140 million inhabitants, “sacred”. “It is a great honor, a responsibility and a sacred duty,” he declared under the auspices of the Andreyevsky Hall in the Kremlin, before going to pay his respects in one of the cathedrals adjacent to the great palace, in the center -city of Moscow.
The leader, at the head of Russia for almost a quarter of a century, finally praised “stability”, a central argument put forward by the Kremlin for several years to justify the president’s policy. Russian and in particular the absence of tolerated opposition in the country.
His fifth term should see him stay in power at least until 2030, but after a constitutional revision adopted in 2020, Vladimir Putin can, if he wishes, stay in power for six more years, until 2036, the year of his 84 years old.
“A liar, a thief, a murderer”
Exiled opponent Yulia Navalnaïa described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “liar, thief, murderer” a few minutes on Tuesday before the start of the inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin which should allow him to begin a fifth term.
“Our country is led by a liar, a thief, a murderer, but this will inevitably end,” said Alexei Navalny’s widow in a video posted on social networks. “With him at the helm, our country will have no peace, no development, no freedom,” she added, referring to the large-scale attack launched by the Russian army against Ukraine.
“His promises are not only empty, they are misleading. This has been going on for 25 years. It will be the same this time,” asserted the opponent, in this video of approximately six minutes.
