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World leaders congratulate Putin on winning re-election

Russia’s incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin garnered 76.66% of the vote in the March 18 election

© AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. World leaders are congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his landslide victory in the presidential election of March 18, the Kremlin press service reports.

As of the present moment, the Russian leader has had telephone conversations with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus - Ilkham Aliyev, Serzh Sargsyan and Alexander Lukashenko, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Read also

Putin secures victory in first round of Russian presidential election

"The leaders warmly congratulated Putin on his sweeping victory in the presidential election in Russia yesterday, and wished him further success in his responsible state post. The conversations focused on topical issues in the development of bilateral relations and the international agenda," the Kremlin press service reported.

The president keeps receiving written congratulations from foreign leaders. Telegrams have come as of now from the leaders of China, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Venezuela, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, South Ossetia and Hungary.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also congratulated Putin on his election victory, the Saudi Press Agency said on Monday. The telegram, the King sent on his own behalf and on behalf of the government and the people, wished the Russian leader good health and happiness, also wishing stable development and prosperity to the Russian people. The king gave high marks to special relations connecting the two countries and their peoples.

Russia’s incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin garnered 76.66% of the vote in the March 18 election with 99.84% of the ballots counted, the Central Election Commission said. Director of the Lenin State Farm Pavel Grudinin, nominated by the Communist Party of Russia, is second with 11.80% of the vote, while leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky is third with 5.66%. The voter turnout was 67.49%, according to Election Commission’s preliminary data.

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Russian presidential election 2018

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