continue to be “the guarantor of the country’s security, domestic stability, and evolutionary development”—essential, he went on, because domestic and foreign enemies were “waiting for us to make a mistake or slip up.” This would also enable him to continue to guide Russia’s energy development and fortify the “turn” to the East. And that last would mean, more than anything else, further strengthening the relationship with China, where his friend Xi Jinping had already been elected president for life.
