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"This support encourages me and inspires me and helps me address the most difficult tasks. We have passed a long and difficult road together."
Outgoing president Dmitry Medvedev spoke first. Putin appointed him prime minister. Around 3,000 guests attended. Pomp and ceremony came with them.
Now the hard work begins. "Putin needs to be strong," said Russian political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov. "Otherwise, there will be 12,000 knives to his back the next day."
He returns during hard times. Center for Political Technologies managing director Boris Makarenko said:
"He left at the peak of economic growth and optimism about increasing prosperity. Now he will be cautious, conflicted.""He understands that the development of Russia and the economy requires independent actors in business and public life, but at the same time he feels the need from his KGB years to keep everything under control."
Confrontations with Washington lie ahead. Like Medvedev, Putin opposes regime change in Syria and Iran. He's outspoken against US imperial interventionism.
In 2007, he condemned Washington's quest for unipolar global dominance "through a system which has nothing to do with democracy."
He's rightfully concerned about US bases encircling Russia, as well as encroaching offensive missile defense systems.
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