On Monday, Western governments united in condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s re-election as unfair and lacking in democratic integrity.

However, China, India, and North Korea offered congratulations to the long-standing leader on securing another six-year term.

These divergent reactions highlight the deepening fault lines in geopolitics, particularly evident since Russia’s extensive invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

This incursion ignited the most severe crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the conclusion of the Cold War.

As EU foreign ministers convened in Brussels on Monday, they collectively denounced the election outcome as fraudulent, Reuters reported.

Concurrently, they moved forward in finalizing sanctions targeting individuals associated with the mistreatment and demise of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

France, Britain, and other nations expressed condemnation regarding Russia’s decision to conduct its election in regions of Ukraine that it asserts to have annexed during the conflict.

The Kremlin rebuffed such criticism, citing the 87% of the vote garnered by Putin over the three-day election period as evidence of Russian citizens rallying behind him.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy firmly stated that Russia’s election lacked legitimacy.

Written by B.C. Begley