Ahead is the appointment of a new board. Putin may announce the appointment of prime minister today.
MOSCOW President of Russia Vladimir Putin was today sworn in for his fifth term in St. Andrew’s Hall in the Grand Palace of the Kremlin.
According to the constitution, the prime minister Mikhail Mishustin announced the resignation of his government today.
Putin’s representative Dmitry Peskov said to reporters that the president may announce the future prime minister today.
It has been considered possible that Mišustin, who is profiled as a competent and apolitical administrator, will continue in the position.
There were no new openings in Putin’s inauguration speech. Putin began his speech by expressing his respect for those involved in the “special military operation”.
This is how official Russia still calls its war of aggression in Ukraine. Since September 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not presented official numbers of fallen Russian soldiers.
Putin: The choice is the West’s
In the midst of a war that has been going on for three years, the Russian president claimed that the majority of countries in the world see Russia as a reliable and honest partner.
– We do not refuse dialogue with Western countries. The choice is theirs: whether they intend to continue trying to hold back Russia’s development, to continue aggressive policies, years of pressure on our country, or whether they seek a path to cooperation and peace, Putin said.
The Russian leadership has tried to create the image that the West has forced Russia to go to war in Ukraine.
Putin said that Russia is ready to discuss issues of security and strategic stability as well, but only on an equal footing and taking into account the interests of both parties “without arrogance and bluster.”
Yesterday, Monday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it is preparing military exercises for the use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to recent statements by Western countries. Putin gave the order for the exercises.
President of France Emmanuel Macron has earlier in the spring hinted at the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on the other hand, recently said that Ukraine is allowed to strike Russian soil with British-supplied weapons.
State television was glowing about unity and the Aurus limousine
As expected, Putin emphasized the importance of national unity in his speech. The president again warned of internal chaos and turmoil. During the war of aggression, the Russian leadership has tightened its grip on the opposition forces.
In his speeches, Putin has previously brought up the period of Smutnoje vremja (Smutnoje vremja) 1598–1613 as a warning example, when the Russian empire temporarily collapsed.
– Together we will win, the Russian leader finished his speech.
In addition to politicians, leading officials and judges, the audience at the inauguration included, among others, a singer Shamanleader of the Night Wolves motorcycle club Aleksandr “Surgeon” Zaldostanov and American action film actor Steven Seagal.
A lot of time was spent on the state television channel praising Putin’s new Aurus limousine. The car transported Putin from his office to the Grand Kremlin Palace. For the first time, there was a convoy of Aurus Merlon motorcycles.
These examples were apparently intended to show the audience that Russia is capable of its own luxury production after the withdrawal of Western car manufacturers from the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov announcedthat the former St. Petersburg factory of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has now been assigned to the Aurus car brand and production is scheduled to start by the end of the year.
After inspecting the presidential regiment in the rainy Kremlin, Putin was attended by the patriarch Kirill’s lead to prayer in the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
In his speech to Putin, Kirill expressed his hope that he would remain in power until “the end of the century”. The expression means for a very long time or forever.
Kirill said that the head of state must make tough decisions and compared Putin to a prince to Alexander Nevsky (1219-1263), who twice repelled the invasion of Novgorod by troops coming from the west.
Kirill almost addressed Putin as “your highness”, usually reserved for heirs to the throne, but managed to correct it to “your highness”.