Vladimir Putin, who was honored yesterday at the swearing-in ceremony for a new six-year mandate as if he were the Russian emperor, sent a double message to the West: the Kremlin is ready to talk, but Russia is preparing for victory in Ukraine.
If he completes this mandate, Putin will surpass Joseph Stalin and become the longest-serving Russian ruler since Empress Catherine the Great, Reuters reminds.
The 71-year-old former KGB spy radiated confidence at a carefully crafted swearing-in ceremony that the West and opponents, mostly imprisoned or abroad, interpret as a farce of democracy masking a corrupt Russian autocracy.
As Russia's elite waited in the Kremlin's Grand Palace's St. Andrew's Hall, which once housed the imperial throne, Putin studied documents in his office before walking down the Kremlin's corridors to greet guards, even pausing to scrutinize a painting on the wall.
"We do not reject dialogue with Western countries," Putin said after taking the oath, adding that he is ready for talks on security and strategic stability, but only if there is no "arrogance" by the United States and its allies.
The absolute Russian ruler for more than 24 years promised victory and said that all Russians now "correspond to our thousand-year history and our ancestors."
He left the ceremony with music from the opera "Life for the Emperor" by Mihail Glinka.
"The authority of our president is greater than ever - greater than the American president, greater even than the Russian tsar. So much depends on our president," said Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.
Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to the biggest deterioration in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Russia is advancing along the front, and its artillery production surpasses the NATO alliance, Reuters points out.
Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service (SVR), told the British agency that Putin's speech was an invitation to the West to start a dialogue.
"On the one hand, this is an invitation to the West for equal cooperation, and on the other hand, this is a firm belief that Russia will ensure its own development and security," Naryshkin said. When asked what if the West does not want to talk, Naryshkin answered with a smile: "then let them think".
The signal came just a day after Putin ordered exercises to deploy tactical nuclear weapons following what Moscow described as threats from France, Britain and the US.
Putin's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the US after contacts between mediators, Reuters reported in February.
In Russia, the war helped Putin tighten his grip on power and boosted his popularity. According to the official results, he won the elections in March with 88 percent of the votes.
The USA announced that it would not send anyone to the swearing-in ceremony and that the elections were not free and fair, but that they still consider Putin the president of Russia.
Britain, Canada and most EU countries boycotted the event in a move Russian officials characterized as pointless and meaningless to anyone but the West.
The main points of Putin's short speech were: the danger of turmoil and stagnation, as well as the fact that a unique Russian civilization must develop in a changing world.
Sergey Kiriyenko, Putin's deputy chief of staff, told Reuters that the election was an unprecedented event in Russia's electoral history and indicated a new level of "internal consolidation".
Sergei Chemezov, who worked with Putin in East Germany and is his close ally, said that Putin has brought stability, which even his critics should welcome.
"For Russia, this is the continuation of our path, this is stability - you can ask any citizen on the street," Chemezov said. According to him, the West will "understand that Putin is stability for Russia, not some new person".
There is no obvious successor.
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