Putin Inauguration 2024: West Boycotts as Ukraine War Tensions Escalate

Putin Inauguration 2024

Putin is sworn in for a fifth six-year presidential term, and Western countries boycott the inauguration ceremony

Washington — Russian President Vladimir Putin was recently sworn in for his fifth term amidst international controversy and criticism. The U.S. and Western diplomats boycotted his inauguration, citing concerns over the legitimacy of the election and Putin’s leadership.

Despite facing isolation, Putin expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue with the West on nuclear arms talks. Tensions are high with Ukraine, with fears of potential NATO involvement and escalating nuclear weapons deployments. The future of US-Russian relations remains uncertain as Putin navigates his new term in office.

Key Concepts

• Russian President Vladimir Putin sworn in for fifth term amidst Western boycott.
• Possibility of restarting nuclear arms talks with the West mentioned during inauguration.
• Putin in power since 1999, leading Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
• International isolation faced by Putin, emphasizes importance of dialogue with the West.
• Controversy surrounding death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, accusations against Putin.
• U.S., Britain, Canada, and most EU countries boycott Putin’s inauguration.
• Ukrainian government criticizes Putin’s new inauguration as legitimizing dictatorship.
• US-Russian relations strained, concerns over NATO involvement in Ukraine conflict.
• Tensions escalating over nuclear weapons deployment, future of New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
• Uncertainty over how Putin will promote war in Ukraine during new term.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for another six-year presidential term at an inauguration ceremony held in the Kremlin on Tuesday (May 7). This is also the fifth time Putin has been sworn in as president. His inauguration was boycotted by U.S. and Western diplomats.

Putin said during his inauguration that he might restart nuclear arms talks with the West.

Putin has been leading Russia’s political, military, and economic policies as president or prime minister since 1999. When he took office again, the war he launched to invade Ukraine had lasted for more than two years. After encountering successive setbacks against the stubborn resistance of the Ukrainian defenders, hundreds of thousands of Russian troops seem to have gradually regained the initiative on the battlefield and are seeking new breakthroughs in the eastern Ukraine region.

The 71-year-old Putin has long spoken out in Russia, but internationally he has been spurned and strongly isolated by the United States and Western countries. Putin instead accused the United States and Western countries of using Ukraine as a tool to try to defeat and dismember Russia.

After being sworn in, Putin told the Russian political elites attending the inauguration that he had not closed dialogue with the West, but the West needed to make its own choice on how to talk to Russia.

He also said that it is possible to have a dialogue with the West on the stability of strategic nuclear weapons, but such dialogue must be conducted on an equal basis.

Putin won an unquestionable “big victory” in a Russian election with almost no opponents in March this year. However, his real opponents were either banned from running for technical reasons or were thrown into prison or persecuted to death by him.

Alexei Navalny, Putin’s most prominent opposition leader, died suddenly and under mysterious circumstances in a prison above the Siberian Arctic Circle a month before the election.

Navalny’s exiled widow, Yulia Navalnaya, posted a video on social media on Tuesday accusing Putin of being a murderer and a tyrant.

“The current leader of our country is a liar, a thief, and a murderer, but this must come to an end one day. Don’t give up, truth will prevail,” Yulia Navalnaya said.

The U.S. government has said that the Russian election that led to Putin’s victory was neither free nor fair, so no U.S. officials attended Tuesday’s presidential inauguration. Other countries participating in the boycott include Britain, Canada, and most EU countries, although France said it would send diplomats to Putin’s inauguration.

Ukraine’s government says Putin’s new inauguration seeks to “create an illusion of legitimacy” for a man with a near-life tenure who has not only turned the Russian Federation into an aggressor state but also turned Russia’s ruling regime into a dictatorship.

U.S.-Russian relations are currently at their lowest point since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The United States and Western countries have provided Ukraine with a large amount of military aid, including artillery, tanks, and long-range missiles, but NATO troops have not yet directly participated in the war. Both Putin and US President Joe Biden have said that NATO’s entry into the war could lead to the outbreak of World War III.

However, tensions between Russia and the West related to the deployment of nuclear weapons appear to be rising. Russia announced on Monday that its military would practice deploying tactical nuclear weapons in a military exercise in response to threats from France, Britain, and the United States.

“We hope that this move will cool down the ‘hotheads’ in Western capitals,” Reuters quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.

As Putin begins his new term, one of the important decisions he needs to make is whether to seek to extend or replace the last agreement between the United States and Russia to limit strategic nuclear warheads. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia will expire in 2026.

Reuters reported that it is unclear how Putin will promote the war in Ukraine he launched more than two years ago in his new term. Perhaps he will wait until after the U.S. election in November this year, after President Biden and former President Donald Trump A decision will be made after the election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is decided.

According to the provisions of the Russian Constitution, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin led the cabinet to resign when Putin was sworn in, and Putin will also appoint a new governing team. However, Reuters said that Putin’s new ruling team will definitely include many old faces.