Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier does not want to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election. All of the Kremlin leader's best-known critics are either dead, imprisoned or in exile.
Observers expect that over the next six years in office, Putin will step up his foreign policy significantly in his war of aggression against Ukraine. Domestically, the reprisals in the country could also be significantly intensified in order to stifle the protests of Putin's opponents.