Vladimir Putin Announces Candidacy for Russian Presidency Again

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, announced on Friday to soldiers who participated in the war in Ukraine that he will run for president again in the 2024 elections; an action that allows him to remain in power until 2030. Putin, who rose to the presidency in the last days of 1999, has served as president longer than any other ruler in Russia since Joseph Stalin. He has even broken Leonid Brezhnev's record of an 18-year term. According to Reuters, during a ceremony awarding the highest military honor in Russia to soldiers participating in the Ukraine war, Colonel Artem Zhuga, who was born in Ukraine during the Soviet era and is now fighting for Russia, asked Putin to run for election again. At the same time, Putin told Zhuga and other veterans of the Ukraine war: 'I do not hide that I have had different thoughts at different times, but now the time for decision-making has come... I understand that there is no other way, and I will run for president.' Reuters also reported last month that Vladimir Putin had decided to run. For the 71-year-old Putin, the election is a formal matter, and with government support, state media, and almost no mainstream public opposition, his victory in the upcoming election seems certain. While Putin may not face real competition in the elections, he is confronted with the most serious challenges any president in the Kremlin has faced since Mikhail Gorbachev struggled with the collapsing Soviet Union over three decades ago. Challenges such as the war in Ukraine, which has led to the largest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, followed by Western sanctions that have inflicted the largest external shock on the Russian economy in decades. Earlier, on June 29, U.S. President Joe Biden, referring to Putin's military invasion of Ukraine, stated: 'He has clearly failed in both the Ukraine war and the civil war and has been ostracized around the world.' Biden said: 'Russia's ostracism is not just in NATO and the European Union. Russia is now ostracized in 40 countries around the world.' Russia and Saudi Arabia called on all OPEC Plus countries to join the oil production cut agreement. The Kremlin stated that Putin discussed 'sensitive issues' in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The G7 leaders emphasized support for Ukraine; the U.S. announced a new 'arms package' to Kyiv. Verification | Misleading statements by Putin at the G20 online summit. Ukraine urged its Western allies to increase 'defense production' to counter the Russian invasion. Putin significantly increased Russia's military budget. Moscow is concerned about the impact of exiles on the Russian presidential elections. Three lawyers of Alexei Navalny, a prominent opposition figure in Russia, were arrested. Russia's failure to regain membership in the UN Human Rights Council.