US to snub Putin inauguration

THE United States said it would snub the inauguration on Tuesday of Russian President Vladimir Putin after his latest election in which he faced no real opposition.

“We will not have a representative at his inauguration,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday.

Asked if the boycott meant the United States considered Putin illegitimate, Miller said, “We certainly did not consider that election free and fair, but he is the president of Russia and is going to continue in that capacity.”

Putin, 71, has led Russia as either president or prime minister since the turn of the century. The election commission said in March that he won a fifth term with 87.28 per cent of the votes.

Putin’s most vocal critic, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison in February. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has encouraged the international community not to recognise Putin as a legitimate leader. AFP