Putin opens the fourth presidential term expert： it faces both internal and external challenges

　　Beijing, May 8 (Reporter Han Meng) According to the Voice of China, the inauguration ceremony of the Russian President was held in the Kremlin in the capital Moscow yesterday (7th) evening, Beijing time. In the witness of the President of the Constitutional Court, Putin was sworn in as the seventh president of the Russian Federation, and at the same time he started his fourth presidential term.

　　Putin opened the "4.0 era", but the internal and external pressures waiting for him have not been alleviated. Russian-Ukrainian relations, the situation in Syria, western diplomatic isolation and domestic economic problems all test Putin’s political wisdom. How will he lead Russia out of the predicament?

　　At noon on the 7 th local time in Russia, Putin read the presidential oath in the face of the Russian Constitution. Subsequently, Zorkin, President of the Russian Constitutional Court, awarded Putin a badge symbolizing presidential power, and announced that Putin officially took office as Russian President. Putin then delivered his inaugural speech. He said that it is his duty and life meaning to make every effort to safeguard national peace and achieve prosperity. "I assure you that my goal in life and work will be as always, that is, serving the Russian people and serving our motherland, which is above all else for me."

　　Putin also said that Russia should become a vibrant and modern country, and it needs to be prepared to meet the challenges of the times, consolidate its position in the field of traditional advantages, and unite to achieve new achievements so as to make the country develop continuously.

　　After delivering his inaugural speech, Putin also reviewed the presidential guard team. Matviyenko, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, Volodin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma, and about 3,000 Russian parliamentarians, government officials, military officers, youth representatives and diplomatic envoys from various countries attended the inauguration ceremony.

　　According to the Russian Constitution, the president is the Russian head of state and the supreme commander of the armed forces. Putin was elected president for the first time in 2000, re-elected in 2004, chairman of the United Russia Party in 2008, and prime minister in May of the same year. In 2008, the Russian State Duma passed a constitutional amendment to extend the term of office of the president from the original four years to six years. In 2012, Putin was re-elected as Russian president. On March 18, 2018, Putin participated in the seventh Russian presidential election as an independent candidate and won with 76.69% of the votes.

　　According to Russian law, after Putin announces his inauguration, the former prime minister and government will automatically step down. Of course, the old cabinet members will automatically get the title of "agent" and continue to perform their duties until they form a new cabinet. The president has two weeks to think about proposing a candidate for prime minister to the State Duma. Obviously, Putin doesn’t need that long to consider the post of prime minister. Later on the 7th, President Putin has nominated Medvedev as the new prime minister of the Russian government.

　　In the eyes of some Russians, Putin represents stability, strength and order; In the eyes of the west, he is a so-called "geopolitical giant" and also a "mystery in a mystery". The feud with the west constitutes one of the most dramatic scripts in Putin’s ruling career. In the newly broadcast Russian documentary "2018 International Order", Putin said that the root of the tension between Russia and the West is that the latter has been trying to contain and weaken Russia.

　　In recent years, Russia has been continuously sanctioned by the West, and the development of infrastructure and people’s livelihood security has been slow. This is a reality that Putin must face directly. When Putin delivered a State of the Union address to members of the Russian Federation Council and the Russian State Duma on March 1, he bluntly said that stagnation is the main threat and enemy of Russia at present.

　　Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Institute of International Strategy of China Institute of International Studies, analyzed that during Putin’s new term, how to use policy leverage to inject growth momentum into the economy has attracted much attention. First of all, domestic reform and sustainable economic development are the problems that Russia must face. 2018 should be a good start year for Putin. In 2017, Russia achieved good results in a series of fields, such as economic growth, inflation rate reduction and food production, and Russia’s expectations for its own economic development were also more positive. However, there are still some unresolved issues in Russia’s economic development. For example, in terms of Russia’s economic structure, 40% of its fiscal revenue in 2017 came from the oil and energy sector, which shows that Russia still relies more on the export of energy and raw materials. Russia must change this situation. For Putin, the next stage of development needs to find some new growth points, which is probably a very difficult challenge for Russia.

　　Rome was not built in a day. To change the inherent problems, Putin should make great efforts. The containment of Russia by western countries is another major challenge that Putin has to face.

　　Su Xiaohui analysis, for Russia, Russia hopes to ease relations with western countries. However, after a year of development in 2017, Russia did not restart relations with the west, but instead produced more contradictions and differences. In the future, Russia must first deal with the economic sanctions pressure from the west. In addition, Russia has always been an alien in the eyes of the West, and the strategic containment of Russia by the West has not been reduced, but has been continuously strengthened. In the future, in the process of getting along with the West, Russia should ensure its national interests on the one hand, and avoid a head-on collision with the West on the other. So for Putin, foreign policy is also a very difficult process.

　　Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang expressed heartfelt congratulations on Putin’s inauguration at a regular press conference on the 7th, and expressed China’s expectation on the development of Sino-Russian relations. Earlier, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader sent a congratulatory message to President Putin on his re-election. It is believed that under the leadership of President Putin, Russia’s national construction and economic and social development will continue to make new achievements. Under the strategic guidance and personal promotion of the Supreme Leader and President Putin, Sino-Russian relations have maintained a high level of development, and the current comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries is at its best in history. At present, both China and Russia are in a critical period for the development of their respective countries. I am convinced that under the joint leadership of the two heads of state, the connotation of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in the new era will become richer and richer, and the road of cooperation between the two countries in various fields will also become wider and wider.