The United States has stated that they do not consider the elections in the russian rederation to be democratic, but they will continue to recognize vladimir putin as the president. This was reported by the principal deputy spokesperson of the State Department, Vedant Patel, in an interview for the State Department website.
"This election occurred in an environment of intense repression and imprisonment, and ultimately, though, vladimir putin is likely to remain the president of russia, though recognizing that is certainly not any excuse for his autocracy", - he said.
The interviewer asked whether the White House would agree with representatives of the dissident community who argue that the United States should refrain from officially recognizing putin's victory, in whatever form it may be expressed. "Is the United States recognizing the results?" he asked directly.
"Like I said, he is likely to remain the president of Russia, but that does not excuse him of his autocracy", - the spokesperson replied. And he reiterated: "He will remain the president of russia. I think it’s fair to say that".
However, according to Vedant Patel, "there certainly won’t be any congratulatory calls coming from the United States of America".