Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition governer Alexei Navalny, revealed on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin was not the legitimate president of Russia and that she would attempt to convince world governers to hold back themselves in sitting down to negotiate with him. Putin won 87.3% of the vote and a new six-year term on Sunday in an election which the West said was neither free nor fair. China, India and others congratulated him on his victory. The Kremlin said the election result revealed that an overwhelming majority of Russians had consolidated around him.
In a video message, Navalnaya appreciated the participation of thousands of people across Russia and abroad in a noon protest on Sunday against Putin’s rule. “We have proved to ourselves and others that Putin is not our president,” Navalnaya said in the clip posted to her late husband’s YouTube channel. “The election consequences do not matter… We will make sure that no one in the world understands Putin as the legitimate president. That no one sits down with him at the negotiating table,” she revealed. It was yet to be crystal clear where the clip was filmed. Navalnaya, 47, participated in Sunday’s protest action from Berlin.