West slams fraught Russian election as China's Xi congratulates Putin

Western governments came out on Monday to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin's landslide win in a vote they say was neither free nor fair, while China, Moscow's main ally amid increased international isolation, sent congratulations.

With all of the ballots counted, the electoral commission awarded Putin a landslide win of 87.28% of votes on Monday afternoon, a record result that observers say was only possible through force, repression and fraud.

Voter turnout was officially put at 77.44%.

It is the best result for the Kremlin leader, who has been in power for almost 25 years, in the five times that he has run for office.

International observers did not monitor the election across the vast country which reaches across 11 time zones. The vote which ended on Sunday was accompanied by numerous protests by thousands of his opponents.

The French government labelled the vote as yet another in the country held under fraught conditions.

"The conditions for a free, pluralistic and democratic election have once again not been met," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

International standards regarding equal access to the press for all candidates were not met, according to the statement.

The fact that candidates who clearly positioned themselves against Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine were not admitted significantly reduced the pluralistic character of the vote, the ministry said.

France also condemned the vote held in the Ukrainian territories illegally annexed by Russia. "The illegal organization of alleged 'elections' in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia constitutes a new violation of international law and the United Nations Charter."

France will never recognize these polls and their results, it said.

A government spokeswoman in Berlin also reiterated that the German government does not consider the vote to have been "neither free nor fair."

"In our opinion, it was not a democratic election, as no real opposing candidates were allowed," Christiane Hoffmann told journalists in Berlin.

The US Department of State said the election "occurred in an environment of intense repression and imprisonment" while conceding that "Putin is likely to remain the president of Russia."

"Recognizing that is certainly not any excuse for his autocracy," said State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel, calling the elections "neither free nor fair."

"The Russian people deserve a free and fair election and the ability to choose among a group of candidates representing a diverse set of views" as well as "access to impartial information to help them choose the leadership that they so desire and help them determine the future of their country," Patel said.

"And that was clearly not the case in these elections."

the Russian people deserve a free and fair election and the ability to choose among a group of candidates representing a diverse set of views. Russians, like everyone else, deserve access to impartial information to help them choose the leadership that they so desire and help them determine the future of their country. And that was clearly not the case in these elections, which were neither free nor fair.

And as you all know, the Kremlin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running. They’ve denied anti-war candidates, among other things. And as you also all know, that leading Kremlin critic Aleksey Navalny recently died in custody following years of harassment, abuse, and imprisonment.

So this election occurred in an environment of intense repression and imprisonment, and ultimately, though, Vladimir Putin is likely to remain the president of Russia, though recognizing that is certainly not any excuse for his autocracy.

The EU also condemned Russia's holding of "so-called 'elections'" in occupied territories in Ukraine, referring to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in violation of international law back in 2014, as well as the mainland regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson.

"The European Union reiterates that it does not and will never recognize either the holding of these so-called 'elections' in the territories of Ukraine or their results," said the statement, issued by Josep Borrell, foreign affairs chief, on behalf of the EU.

The statement also said that "the shocking death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in the run up to the elections is yet another sign of the accelerating and systematic repression."

In a sign of protest at the fraught vote, Western leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, did not congratulate Putin on his victory, unlike Chinese President Xi Jinping who swiftly held a phone call with the Kremlin leader on Monday.

Xi congratulated Putin and told him that he trusts that Russia will be able to achieve even greater success in the development and construction of the country under Putin's leadership, according to state television.

Earlier, Lin Jian, the new spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said that China and Russia are "strategic partners in the new era."

While Western countries are trying to isolate Moscow in light of Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, Beijing, outwardly neutral but backing Russia, remains the Kremlin's most important ally. Xi called Putin an "old friend" at a meeting last autumn.

Trade between Russia, which is affected by Western sanctions, and the world's second-largest economy is also flourishing.

Putin's re-election was considered a foregone conclusion, with no real opposition candidates on the ballot and widespread manipulation expected.

Election observers from the independent Russian organization Golos complained of unprecedented violations in the election.

The entire state apparatus had switched to propaganda, coercion and voter control, the organization said in a statement.

In addition, war censorship had been introduced with the help of fear-mongering and violence, it continued.

Especially on Sunday, the last day of the three-day vote, security forces penalized voters for "incorrectly" filling in ballot papers.

People were also forced to break the secrecy of the ballot. "There has never been anything like this in any election before," Golos said.

According to Golos, independent observers were not allowed into the polling stations and there was no access to CCTV footage.

In previous elections, footage published online showed widespread stuffing of ballot boxes with pre-filled ballot papers.