Putin sworn in for fifth term

Russian President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a new six-year term yesterday at a Kremlin ceremony that was boycotted by the US and other Western countries at which he said he was open to nuclear talks with West.

Putin, in power as president or prime minister since 1999, begins his new mandate more than two years after he sent thousands of troops into Ukraine, where Russian forces regained the initiative after a series of reversals and are seeking to advance further in east.

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