Vladimir Putin: Territorial Integrity, Economic Growth, Multipolarity

President Putin's famous first meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, summer 2017

Incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin, 65, is running in this year's presidential election as an independent.

 

Throughout his three terms as president (2000-2004, 2004-2008, 2012-2018), President Putin has underscored the need to preserve Russia's territorial integrity, improve governance and increase GDP growth. In foreign policy, Putin has sought to use Russian influence, and Moscow's partnerships with other emerging economic powers, to build a multipolar world.

 

At the heart of Putin's platform for 2018 is improving the prosperity of the Russian people in a world characterized by fast-paced technological change. During his speech to the Federal Assembly last week, the president spoke about ensuring steady population growth, providing better support for the elderly, committing 4% of GDP to the creation of a modern medical system, investing in new museums and educational and cultural institutions, and adopting more stringent environmental standards. Putin also mentioned the need to improve access to mortgages, invest more in the construction of new infrastructure, increase investment, provide more support for small and medium-sized businesses, and remove barriers to Russian companies seeking to do business abroad.

                  President Putin playing for the 'Hockey Legends' squad, during a match at the Sirius educational center in Sochi in 2015.

President Putin, Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva, gold and silver medal winners in women's figure skating at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, during an award ceremony in the Kremlin.

President Putin and Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov at the Kremlin's Marble Hall during the president's annual address to the Federal Assembly in 2006.

Putin taking down an opponent during training with members of Russia's national judo team, 2016.

December 11, 2017. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu take a group photo with Russian servicemen during Putin's surprise visit to Khmeimim air base.

Then-Prime Minister Putin introducing journalists to a tiger cub presented to him for his 56th birthday on October 7, 2008. The cub was later gifted to a local zoo.

President Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a meeting at the Bocharov Ruchey state residence in Sochi, Russia in 2007.

President Putin holds a meeting with members of the Russian government, January 2018.

President Putin at the opening of the 'Russia!' exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2005, as part of his visit for the annual UN General Assembly.

President Putin and cadets at a flower-laying ceremony before the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky on Red Square during Day of National Unity ceremonies, November 2016.

May 7, 2012, President-elect Vladimir Putin (center) enters the Kremlin's Andreevsky Hall during his inauguration ceremony following the 2012 election.