"Outside attempts to destabilize Russia" contributed to a landslide victory for United Russia in Sunday's parliamentary elections, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking at a
government meeting on Monday, Putin said that
the results were a response from
Russian voters to “external
pressures” being placed on the
country.
Russians have
long chosen stability when faced with
difficult situations, the president said.
“United
Russia has achieved a good result against a background
of fairly large economic and social
difficulties, such as the reduction
of citizens' income in
real terms," Putin said.
“The
election results are good, but this is only a
show of faith on the part of our people. We
should now continue our work from here,” he said.
Sunday's
elections saw an expected landslide victory for the ruling United
Russia party, who expanded their majority in the State
Duma. Turnout across the country stood at 47 percent, the lowest in Russia's post-Soviet history.
