Last position was taken by center-left Sergei Mironov, head of the Fair Russia party. Putin announced during the campaign that if he wins, he would nominate the present head of state, Dmitri Medvedev, as prime minister. On Sunday night, they appeared together in Manezh square near the Kremlin to speak to a crowd of over 110,000 supporters to celebrate victory. Putin emphasized the fact that he considered this a fair victory:

“These have not been just elections for the presidency of Russia, they were an important test for all of us, for our entire people. They were a test of political maturity, of independence. We truly showed that no one can impose anything on us. We showed that our people are entirely capable of making the difference between the desire for novelty, for renewal, and political challenges which have a single purpose: to unravel the Russia state and usurp power. The Russian people showed today that such scenarios cannot work in our land. They cannot succeed! Glory to Russia!”.

As part of the platform which won him the election, Putin promises to support the existence of a multi-ethnic society in Russia, to offer financial assistance to the volatile region of Northern Caucasus, and to firmly oppose any form of separatism, extremism and terrorism. He said he supported diversifying the Russian economy, and made promises, ranging from creating 25 million jobs for people with higher education, to reducing home loan interest rates.

In terms of Russian foreign policy, Putin believes that the country should maintain its nuclear deterrent in order to ensure its strategic stability, and on the other hand he rejects the idea of ‘Western export of democracy’ or military intervention in sovereign states. Well ahead of the election, the government in Bucharest announced that Romania wants to have more detailed dialog with Russia in order to clarify some outstanding issues, and to have a closer economic partnership.