Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday promised to make Russia a “sovereign, self-sufficient” power in the face of the West, in his first campaign speech before running again for president in a March election. Putin, in power since 2000, will stand for president in March, in a vote with no real opposition that is expected to prolong his rule until at least 2030. The vote will come just over two years since he launched Moscow’s Ukraine offensive, prompting huge rounds of Western sanctions on Russia. “We must remember and never forget and tell our children: Russia will be either a sovereign, self-sufficient state, or it will not be there at all,” Putin said during a congress of the ruling United Russia party. “We will only make decisions ourselves without foreign tips from abroad,” Putin told United Russia members, to applause.

Source: Nigerian Tribune December 17, 2023 21:15 UTC