Revealing Russian President Putin's top priorities in his 5th term

Incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin has won a landslide victory in the election held over the weekend, ensuring he will continue to lead the Eurasian transcontinental nation until 2030.

Putin is expected to take office for his fifth term in May, when he will deliver a speech laying out his vision for the next six years. But his first comments since the Russian presidential election have revealed some things.

Conflict continues in Ukraine

At a press conference late on March 17, after preliminary election results showed that Putin would be re-elected with more than 87 percent of the vote, he quickly made clear that his top priority was to continue the “special military operation” in Ukraine until Kiev and the West agreed to a peace deal on his terms.

The Kremlin chief said Russia wanted negotiations to build “ peaceful , long-term neighborly relations”, not an agreement that would allow Ukraine “a pause of a year and a half or two years to rearm”.

Repeating a warning issued last summer, Mr Putin said Moscow might have to seek to create a “buffer zone” on Ukrainian territory that Russia does not currently control, to protect his country from cross-border attacks and shelling.

The Russian leader did not provide details, but analysts say such a “buffer zone” would entail an attempt to control parts of the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine.

Nearly a fifth of Ukraine is now controlled by Russian forces, and the front line has barely changed since late 2022. And in fact, Russia has in recent months stepped up its attacks on Kharkiv, the region along the Ukraine-Russia border that Russia calls Kharkov.

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile attack on Odessa, southern Ukraine, March 15, 2024. Photo: The Guardian

Responding to the Russian President's statement about the "buffer zone", Mr. Mykhailo Podolyak, political advisor to the President of Ukraine, said on March 17 that this was a clear sign that Moscow planned to escalate the conflict.

“This is... a direct, clear statement that the war will only escalate,” Podolyak told Reuters in a written statement. “All this is direct evidence that the Russian Federation is not ready to live in modern political and social relations, taking into account the absolute sovereign rights of other states,” the Ukrainian official said.

The importance of Crimea

A day after the election, re-elected President Vladimir Putin on March 18 attended a large rally and concert in Red Square, attended by tens of thousands of people, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to the Russian Federation.

Mr Putin, who took to the stage with three candidates running against him in the presidential election, sent his congratulations to the Russian people and especially the people of Crimea on the occasion of the anniversary.

“Crimea is not only a strategically important territory, it is not only our history, our traditions… the people of Crimea and the residents of Sevastopol are our pride!”, the Russian President said.

Mr Putin said Crimea was known as “an unsinkable aircraft carrier. This is what makes me say that Crimea has returned to its home port”.

President Putin also mentioned the residents of the four separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that Russia annexed two years ago – Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, which he admitted were much more difficult and “tragic” than the annexation of Crimea.

“However, we did it and it was an important milestone in the history of our country. Now we move forward together, shoulder to shoulder,” Putin declared.

The leader then sang the Russian national anthem along with the losing candidates and tens of thousands of people present waving Russian flags.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a concert in Red Square marking the 10th anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, March 18, 2024. Photo: Kremlin.ru

“It is important that Crimea is de facto and de jure an inseparable part of the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 18 during a telephone briefing.

“The declaration of independence and the subsequent decision to join Russia were carried out in strict accordance with international law,” Mr Peskov added.

Crimea's government, headed by a Russian-appointed leader, held a referendum on March 16, 2014, for independence from Ukraine.

To ensure that Kiev does not undermine the “freedom” of expression of Crimean will, Mr. Putin has approved the deployment of Russian troops on the peninsula to blockade all Ukrainian military garrisons.

Crimean residents were given a ballot with two options: Reunification with Russia, or Maintaining the peninsula's status as part of Ukraine.

Some 96.5% of the peninsula's population – more than 80% of whom are ethnic Russians – supported becoming part of the Russian Federation.

Crimea returned to Russia two days later, on March 18, 2014, when Mr. Putin signed a bilateral treaty at the Kremlin to annex the peninsula and the port of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation.

East

Russia under President Putin aims to pivot its trade and energy markets to the East.

Russia has lost part of the European energy market due to Western sanctions and the explosions of the Nord Stream 1&2 gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea remain an unsolved mystery.

Russia’s pivot to the East depends on the progress of three major projects: First, a new “gas hub” in Türkiye. Second, the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which will bring Russian gas to China via Mongolia. And third, the expansion of the Northern Sea Route, made possible by the melting of Arctic sea ice.

On the economic front, Russia's economy grew 4.6% year-on-year in January, helped by increased military output, but labor shortages and low productivity remain problems. The Russian government's short-term priorities are to cut inflation, which is running at 7.6%, and ease budget strains .

Minh Duc (According to CGTN, EFE/La Prensa Latina, NY Times, Reuters)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/he-lo-uu-tien-hang-dau-cua-tong-thong-nga-putin-trong-nhiem-ky-5-a654796.html