Among the first to congratulate Putin on the victory in the rigged presidential election procedure were North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Chinese President Xi Jinping has also offered his congratulations, as have several former Soviet countries.
“Hardly surprising”
India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are other states that have congratulated the Russian president. Congratulations have also come from a handful of countries in South and Central America, including Cuba and Venezuela.
– It is not surprising. It is the group of states that has stood up for him in everything essential in the past, says Sweden’s former foreign minister Carl Bildt in Aktuellt.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas wishes Putin “all the luck to meet the goals and challenges facing the Russian people”.