Putin has genuine support in Russia: Finnish FM

Putin has genuine support in Russia: Finnish FM

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (File Photo: IANS)

Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini. (File Photo: IANS)

Helsinki, March 19 (IANS) Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini said on Sunday that the voter turnout in Russian presidential election indicates that Vladimir Putin has genuine support in Russia.

Interviewed on national television Yle, Soini said that the 70 per cent support for Putin and the voter turnout at around 60 per cent denote "a sort of stability" in Russia, reports Xinhua.

"Putin is a leader chosen by the Russians themselves," Soini said.

The foreign minister said he hoped Putin would take "steps for peace" during his fourth term, "so that normal, rule-based international cooperation could be attained again".

Soini did not take a stand on whether some irregularities reported should be taken up with the Russians.

Putin, the incumbent Russian president, was set to win Sunday's presidential election as he got 75.91 per cent of the vote after 70 per cent of the ballots were counted, preliminary data from the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed.

--IANS

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