West condemns ‘sick’ Putin’s rigged election win as Xi sends congrats to Moscow – POLITICO Europe

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory note to Putin, according to Chinas state outlet Xinhua News, in which he noted that there are great things ahead for Russia under Putins leadership.

Beijings hearty congratulations echoed by Kremlin buddies in North Korea, Belarus, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Azerbaijan arrived after Putin triumphed in the rigged election, landing 87 percent of the vote as he tightens his grip on Russian society.

The election campaign, in which Putin faced no genuine opposition, was marked by the death of Russian dissident leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic penal colony and the Kremlins forces making slow but steady progress on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.

While Putins friends and allies were quick to congratulate him, top Western officials were less than impressed at his trampling on the last vestiges of Russian democracy.

In a video on X, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian dictator is simply sick for power and is doing everything to rule forever.

The EUs top diplomat Josep Borrell condemned the illegal holding of so-called elections in the territories of Ukraine that Russia has temporarily occupied, and stressing that the EU will never recognize those votes.

Read the original here:

West condemns 'sick' Putin's rigged election win as Xi sends congrats to Moscow - POLITICO Europe