The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, officially began his fifth term in office on Tuesday after an inauguration ceremony in Moscow’s Grand Kremlin Palace. Putin won March’s election, claiming a record landslide victory with 87.28% of the vote, which will keep him in power until at least 2030. In a speech made after he swore an oath on the constitution Putin called on the west to approach dialogue with Russia as ‘an equal’: ‘The dialogue, including on issues of security and strategic stability, is possible, but not from a position of force’. He added: ‘Together with our partners in Eurasian integration, with other sovereign centres of development, we will continue to work on forming a multipolar world order, an equal and indivisible security system’.