Putin officially became the president of Russia

Vladimir Putin was sworn in as the President of the Russian Federation, the Kremlin website reports.

In the presence of State Duma deputies and judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin took an oath to the Russian people.

The President of the Russian Federation expressed confidence that together with the Russian people, Russia will overcome this difficult and important period, become stronger and implement "long-term plans and large-scale projects aimed at achieving development goals".

"We have been and will remain open to strengthening good relations with all countries that consider Russia a reliable and honest partner. And this is truly a global majority. We will not refuse dialogue with Western countries. The choice is theirs: whether they want to continue trying to stop Russia's development, whether they intend to continue the policy of aggression, relentless pressure on our country for years, or whether they intend to seek cooperation and peace," Putin said.

He noted that, among other things, there could be a dialogue on the issues of security and strategic stability. "But not from the position of arrogance, pride and personal advantages of the forces, but only under equal conditions, respecting each other's interests," the Russian president said.

"Together with our Eurasian integration partners and other sovereign development centers, we will continue to work on the formation of a multipolar world order and an equal and indivisible security system. We need to be self-sufficient and competitive in a fast-changing complex world, open new horizons for Russia, as has happened several times in our history," he added.

At the same time, the question of whether or not to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the Russian president has caused disputes and divisions among the countries of the European Union. According to the Spiegel magazine, citing its sources, France, Hungary and Slovakia have announced that they will send their representatives to Putin's swearing-in ceremony to keep communication channels open with Moscow. However, Germany and other EU countries considered participation inappropriate.

The official representative of the European Union in Moscow also refused to participate in the ceremony. Britain did not send its representative to the ceremony either. A similar decision was made in the United States, the State Department said.

Heads of all accredited diplomatic missions in Moscow have been officially invited to the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Let's remind that the incumbent head of state won the presidential elections held in March with 87.28 percent of the votes. Vladimir Putin will serve as the President of the Russian Federation for another six years - until 2030.

For information, this is 72-year-old Putin's fifth term as head of state. The previous swearing-in ceremonies of 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2018 were also held on May 7.