A strong Russia.” Putin spent Tuesday afternoon meeting children at a traditional festive season event at the Kremlin. The EU said in a statement that the decision to bar Navalny “casts a serious doubt on political pluralism in Russia and the prospect of democratic elections next year”. Navalny said his supporters would monitor election turnout in an attempt to prevent what he alleged were government plans to falsify voter turnout levels. He said he doubted, however, that an opposition boycott would prove an effective means of discrediting Putin’s inevitable election victory. Navalny has accused her of working with the Kremlin to “liven up” the presidential elections.

Source: The Guardian December 26, 2017 17:14 UTC