The German president’s spokeswoman, Cerstin Gammelin, has said that Frank-Walter Steinmeier will not congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his victory in the sham elections.

Gammelin has stated to German newspaper Tagesspiegel that, "There will be no letter to Putin," 

Steinmeier himself said in a Sunday post on Twitter (X) that he was thinking about the fighters in Russia for democracy.

"Today I am thinking about the people in Russia who are fighting for freedom and democracy and living in constant danger from the Putin regime. We will not forget these courageous people," Steinmeier wrote on the day of the Russian presidential sham elections.

In the previous presidential election in Russia in 2018, Steinmeier congratulated Putin.

The German Foreign Ministry previously stated that the sham elections in Russia were neither free nor fair, and that their outcome was not surprising.

Warsaw also said that the presidential sham elections in Russia cannot be considered legal, free and fair.

Charles Michel, President of the European Council, sarcastically congratulated Putin on his upcoming no-alternative "victory" on the first day of voting.