Vladimir Putin sworn in for fourth term as Russian president

“Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a fourth term as Russian president and promises to serve people faithfully amid tensions with the west and domestic discontent over poverty”.

Vladimir Putin, already the longest-serving leader of Russia since Stalin, begin with a fourth presidential term on Monday promising to focus on improving Russians’ lives at home but without backing down in his confrontation with the West.

Putin, in a brief inaugural address to thousands of invited guests at the Kremlin, emphasized the work he has to do at home, nodding to the long-term challenges Russia faces with a stagnant economy and a declining birth rate. He said Russia needed to expand freedoms for entrepreneurs and scientists, to invest in regional development, and to raise the quality of education and healthcare. A particular focus on “traditional family values,” he said, would ensure as many births as possible.

“Russia is a strong, active, and influential participant in international life,” Putin said. “But now we must use all the means we at our disposal to, first, resolve domestic, most vital challenges of development.”

State television began its live coverage of the inauguration on Monday with Putin, 65, apparently hard at work in his Kremlin office. He then walked down a long, red-carpeted corridor to a black limousine that whisked him to the nearby Grand Kremlin Palace, the former throne room of Russia’s tsars.

Putin was applauded by about 5,000 guests as he entered the palace’s ornately decorated Andreyevsky Hall through colossal doors flanked by Kremlin guards. Among the guests were Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, Steven Seagal, the former Hollywood action star who has become close to Russia’s political elite, and Alexander Zaldostanov, the leather-clad, tattooed leader of a pro-Putin motorcycle club.

Mr. Putin was re-elected the president with more than 76% of the vote, his best ever election performance, but widespread irregularities were reported by some international observers. Allegations of ballot-rigging had dogged previous elections too.

The country’s best-known opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was barred from standing against Mr. Putin, on grounds of a conviction for embezzlement which he denies and alleges was politically motivated.

Mr. Navalny was arrested briefly as he tried to join Saturday’s unauthorized protest rally in Moscow under the slogan “He’s not our tsar”.