Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier does not intend to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election, his spokeswoman said, while the German Foreign Ministry in a statement referred to “sham elections”, the result of which did not surprise anyone.

“Today I am thinking of the people in Russia who are fighting for freedom and democracy and living in constant danger under Putin’s regime. We do not forget these brave people,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said via X, while his spokeswoman Kerstin Gamelin told the Tagesspiegel newspaper that “there will be no letter (of congratulations) to Vladimir Putin and spoke of “so-called presidential elections” in Russia.

From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it is pointed out via X: “The sham elections in Russia are neither free nor fair, the result does not surprise anyone. Putin rules autocratically, relying on censorship, repression and violence. “Elections” in the occupied territories of Ukraine are invalid and another violation of international law.”