The Kremlin will not listen to the US opinion about “unfree elections” in Russia

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov called discussions about the “illegitimacy” of the past elections absurd. The Kremlin does not agree with US statements that the elections in Russia were not free and does not intend to listen to Washington’s position.

The Kremlin representative noted that Vladimir Putin the day before called such assessments from the United States and Western countries expected and predictable. “Given that de facto the United States is a country deeply involved in the war in Ukraine, and this is a country that, in fact, is de facto at war with us. This is probably not an opinion that we are ready to listen to,” Mr. Peskov said during a press call.

The Kremlin representative also commented on the ideas of the Russian opposition abroad to recognize the elections as illegitimate. Yulia Navalnaya, in particular, made such an appeal to Western governments. Mr. Peskov noted that among those who left the country, many “were completely cut off from their homeland.” In his opinion, Yulia Navalnaya “more and more belongs to the camp of those people who are losing their roots and cease to feel the pulse of their country.”

“If we talk about the illegitimacy of elections in our country, then we probably need to talk about the illegitimacy of those 87% of the votes of the population of our country that were cast for President Putin. This is absurd. This is how we approach it,” added Mr. Peskov.

By data The Central Election Commission, after processing 99.7% of the protocols, Vladimir Putin wins with 87.31% of the votes. This is his fifth presidential term. Head of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova statedthat the turnout in the elections set a historical record of 77.44%. She assertsthat a record 76 million people voted for Mr. Putin. Official voting results will be announced on Thursday, March 21st. The authorities also gave a negative assessment of the recent elections in the Russian Federation Franceand also head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.

Turnout, vote counting and preliminary election results – in material “Ъ”.