Putin Starts New Term With Same Premier Amid Tensions Abroad

Vladimir Putin was sworn in for the fourth time as president, promising Russians an “economic and technological breakthrough” and reappointing his long-serving prime minister amid the deepest standoff with the West in decades.

Despite Putin’s rhetoric, there’s little appetite in the Kremlin for real changes, according to senior officials, as the growing tension with the U.S. and European Union has strengthened the hand of those arguing for self-reliance and an even greater role for state companies and financing. Those who argued for reducing the conflict in order to focus on economic development are on the defensive after four years of steadily increasing Western sanctions have isolated Russia’s biggest banks and companies from vital financing and technology.