Washington:
The USA on Monday denounced Russia’s election as ”undemocratic” and stated it is not going to congratulate President Vladimir Putin, who was declared winner by a sweeping margin.
Requested about Putin’s reelection, State Division spokesman Vedant Patel responded sarcastically, ”I used to be on the sting of my seat. It was such a nail-biter.”
”This was an extremely undemocratic course of,” Patel instructed reporters.
Requested if the USA was withholding recognition of the consequence, as urged by some dissidents, Patel stated, ”I believe it’s protected to say that there actually will not be congratulatory calls coming from the USA of America.”
”He’s prone to stay the president of Russia, however that doesn’t excuse him of his autocracy,” Patel stated.
Patel faulted Putin for disqualifying and jailing opponents, and for the demise in jail earlier than the vote of certainly one of his most outstanding challengers, Alexei Navalny.
Russians ”deserve free and truthful elections and the power to decide on amongst a bunch of candidates representing a various set of expressions,” Patel stated.
Russians additionally ”deserve entry to neutral data to assist them select the management that they so need and assist them decide the way forward for their nation,” he stated.
”That was clearly not the case in these elections, which had been neither free nor truthful.”
The USA has had minimal contact with Putin since he defied US warnings and ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The US response comes after comparable criticism by European allies who questioned the conduct of the election.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)