Vladimir Putin was sworn in on Tuesday for a fifth term at the head of Russia, until 2030, promising his compatriots to win “together” in the midst of an armed conflict against Ukraine presented as existential.
During a ceremony at the Kremlin in the presence of 2,500 guests, including the country’s political elite and soldiers fighting in Ukraine, the Russian president, 71, delivered a short solemn speech.
“It is a great honor, a responsibility and a sacred duty,” he declared, thanking the “heroes” who are fighting on the front.
“We will get through this difficult period with dignity and we will become even stronger,” added the Russian leader, according to an AFP journalist present on site.
In full tension with the West, kyiv’s supporters against the Russian offensive, he assured that Moscow was not refusing “dialogue” with the latter, but that the “choice depended on them”.
“A discussion on security and strategic stability issues is possible […] but only on an equal footing, respecting the interests of everyone,” he said.
The day before, he ordered the holding of nuclear exercises near Ukraine in response, according to the Kremlin, to statements considered threatening by Western leaders, in particular that of French President Emmanuel Macron on the possible sending of troops to Ukraine.
“We are a united and great people, and together we will overcome all obstacles […] Together we will win,” concluded Vladimir Putin.
He then attended a religious ceremony in the presence of Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a staunch supporter of the Kremlin.
Undisputed power
The Russian head of state, in charge for almost a quarter of a century, enjoys uncontested power in Russia after the crushing of the last dissident voices in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine.
He will serve again until 2030, with the possibility of then serving another term until 2036.
His inauguration took place this year two days before the anniversary of the Soviet victory of May 9 against Nazi Germany, the celebration of which is a pillar of the power policy of Vladimir Putin, who claims to be fighting “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine. .
The ceremony also coincides with a more favorable situation on the front for the Russian army, which had suffered humiliating setbacks in the spring and autumn of 2022, during the first months of its large-scale attack on kyiv.
In recent weeks, Russian assaults in eastern Ukraine have increased in intensity and allowed the gradual capture of several localities, particularly in the area of the key town of Avdiïvka, conquered in mid-February.
Opposite, kyiv’s troops lack ammunition and recruits after their unsuccessful counter-offensive in the summer of 2023. They are awaiting the arrival of new American aid, while the Russian defense industry is running at a loss. full throttle.
“Neither peace nor freedom”
In mid-March, following a vote officially won with more than 87% of votes cast, Vladimir Putin had already painted the portrait of a “united” Russia behind him and his army.
The West, led by Washington, had for their part castigated a forced vote, a few weeks after the death in prison on February 16 of the main Russian opponent, Alexeï Navalny.
In exile abroad, the latter’s widow, Yulia Navalnaïa, who has sworn to continue her fight, castigated Vladimir Putin in a video published Tuesday a few minutes before the start of the inauguration ceremony.
“With him at the helm, our country will have no peace, no development, no freedom,” she said.
On Monday, Ukrainian diplomacy for its part estimated that this inauguration was intended to give “an illusion of legality” to Mr. Putin’s continued power who, according to kyiv, transformed Russia “into an aggressor state” and “into a dictatorship” .
Leading members of the Russian opposition are now in exile or in prison, as are hundreds of ordinary people who have voiced their opposition to Moscow’s offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor.
The head of the Kremlin nevertheless faces several challenges, particularly economic, while the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine, which is very deadly, still seems uncertain.
Inflation, driven in particular by the explosion in the federal budget, linked to military spending, remains persistent and worries the population, whose purchasing power is already weighed down by the effects of Western sanctions.
And the Russian economy, still dependent on hydrocarbon revenues, must also negotiate a shift, claimed by Vladimir Putin, towards Asia, even if the necessary infrastructure, costly and time-consuming to build, is still lacking.