MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Moscow regards NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's criticism of the Russian presidential election as a blatant attempt to interfere in the country's internal affairs, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
"We consider the NATO secretary general's comment about the election in Russia allegedly being neither free nor fair, as he put it, as an attempt of gross interference in the internal affairs of our country," the diplomat noted.
According to Zakharova, it is surprising to hear such statements from an official of an organization that, under Washington's leadership, "has a long history of power politics and direct military aggression against independent states." "One cannot expect anything else from the majority of today's NATO so-called leaders. They turn a blind eye to and even justify the strikes of Ukrainian terrorists with Western weapons on peacefully voting Russian citizens at polling stations, but they are ready to judge as illegitimate elections in all parts of the globe. They have no such right," the diplomat summed up.
Voting in the Russian presidential election took place over three days on March 15-17. The e-voting system was available in about one-third of Russian regions. With 100% of ballots counted, Russian incumbent President Vladimir Putin garnered 87.28% of the vote, according to data from the Russian Election Commission. The turnout of 77.44% was the highest ever in Russia’s modern history. Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) nominee Nikolay Kharitonov came in second with 4.31% of the vote, followed by New People party nominee Vladislav Davankov (3.85%). Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) nominee Leonid Slutsky was last with 3.2% of the vote.