Russian President Vladimir Putin has addressed the new Duma following last month's election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has addressed the new Duma following last month’s election.
The ballot for Russia’s lower house, delivered the expected result, a landslide for Putin’s United Russia.
#VladimirPutin's party wins huge majority in Russian Dumahttps://t.co/JIf5iktKIe pic.twitter.com/6GW7SQ4PcL
— DT Next (@dt_next) 19 September 2016
He outlined the aims of the Duma, such as boosting investment and defence strategies as well as the need to be strong:“Every individual and every country have the same rights, the right to be powerful, but we don’t think that being a superpower gives us the right to tell people what to do and we don’t do that,” he said.
'Keep #Russia strong,' #Putin tells newly elected Duma https://t.co/eV7TWNaNVj pic.twitter.com/n8UiI040pr
— dwnews (@dwnews) 5 October 2016
Not everyone agrees Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, whose party under performed in the poll, is critical of Putin:“We will be going into the presidential election with an understanding that the previous ten years of the current politics has led to six years of hardship, increasing poverty rates, growing military danger and the loss of influence that we once had.”
Putin’s speech comes as relations with the West deteriorate over the conflict raging in Syria and the situation in Ukraine.