what are Vladimir Putin’s objectives for his new mandate?

The Russian president was re-elected on Sunday for a fifth term, in an election that was a foregone conclusion. During his annual address to the nation on February 29, he laid out his roadmap for the next six years.

He’s back for six years. At least. Vladimir Putin won his fifth presidential election on Sunday March 17, without opposition and without a campaign. He collected more than 87% of the votes after counting 98% of the polling stations, according to the official Russian agency Ria Novosti citing the electoral commission. A victory without the slightest surprise, in a Russia in a better position, but nevertheless troubled by two years of a devastating conflict against Ukraine. The master of the Kremlin is now in power until 2030, the year he will celebrate his 77th birthday. With a potential additional mandate until 2036 thanks to a tailor-made amendment to the Constitution adopted by referendum four years ago.

The Russian president defined the broad strategic lines of Russian policy for the coming years during his annual address to the nation in Moscow on February 29. DBefore the country’s political, military, economic and religious elite, he made a long series of numerical announcements, promising billions of rubles to modernize infrastructure, fight against poverty and a pronounced demographic decline, or even digitize the country. . This is what Russia should look like in the next six years, if he sticks to his roadmap.

The continuation of the war in Ukraine

What does the reappointment of Vladimir Putin change in Ukraine? On February 29, the Russian president assured that his soldiers would achieve victory and would not retreat, after more than two years of military offensive. “Members of the armed forces will not back down, will not fail, will not betray,” he had promised. But he gave no perspective to the Russian population, “whether it concerns the contours of the announced victory, a possible negotiated outcome or the return to their homes of civilians mobilized in September 2022″writing The world.

However, ensure Tatiana Kastouéva-Jean, specialist on Russia, in a column at WorldPutin’s continued power allows him to have “hands even freer than before” on the Ukrainian file. “The greatest uncertainty for the coming months concerns the probability of a new wave of partial mobilization, which the authorities are trying to avoid, as that of September 2022 proved unpopular and a source of destabilizationshe explains. It is, however, undeniably necessary, because the extent of the front and the high level of human losses do not allow a military breakthrough at the present time.”

The extension of the conflict, with the declarations of Emmanuel Macron, who has not ruled out the sending of ground troops, is now at the heart of the discussions. The West having assured that they would never take the initiative to start a conflict with Russia, the ball is in the Russian court. “Vladimir Putin’s mandate which has just ended was marked by the desire to attack Ukraine. The coming mandate will show to what extent he will have the possibility of attacking NATO countries. summarizes for franceinfo Antoine Arjakovsky, historian specializing in Ukraine and Russia. “There is a risk of acceleration, of intensification of the war”he adds.

The reaffirmation of “traditional values” within the family

During his annual speech, Vladimir Putin once again praised the “traditional values” officially defended by the Kremlin, ensuring that Russia was one of the “bastions”. “A family with many children must become the norm, a philosophy of life and a point of reference for the entire state strategy”he said, while Russia has been facing serious demographic problems for many years, reinforced by the assault in Ukraine and the departure abroad of hundreds of thousands of citizens. “We see what is happening in some countries, where moral norms are consciously destroyed and entire peoples are driven to extinction and degenerationhe insisted. We choose life.”

Words that need to be put into perspective, assures Antoine Arjakovsky. “Russian society has become ultraviolent, with levels of violence comparable to those in South Africa and Mexico.” The historian recalls, for example, that the Kremlin released common law prisoners, guilty of rape or murder, “to fight in Ukraine, and who then return to their village”.

Promises of economic investments in several sectors

On February 29, Vladimir Putin made multiple promises of social assistance – particularly for veterans and their families – and announced investments in infrastructure, education, digital and new technologies, culture and even the protection of the environment. He also assured that the fight against poverty in Russia was one of his priorities, welcomed a drop in “alcohol consumption” and promised more funding to renovate the country’s schools.

The Russian president even went so far as to promise “the rehabilitation of hiking trails in national parks, the modernization of post offices in villages or the renovation of riverbank roads in Russian cities”reports The world. But “many of these promises – whether it is the modernization of hospitals, access to water and gas – are repeated year after year, mandate after mandate.”

“These are propaganda messages, supports Antoine Arjakovsky. The great dream of the Russian bureaucracy is the state-civilization, an island state, which is self-sufficient, but this is not realistic. The Russian economy is not capable of organizing a transition. The ruble is in full devaluation. Russian society doesn’t believe in it when millions of people don’t even have sewerage.”