World leaders and Russian opposition members and activists react to Vladimir Putin's victory
"The opposition now has to recognise the agonising fact that creative flash-mobs won't get rid of Putin. We need to learn stubborn, routine and – at a first hipster glance – useless old-school political work."
Opposition leader Vladimir Milov, writing in www.gazeta.ru
"Wishing President Putin and his team all the best, the Venezuelan government reaffirms its strong commitment to deepening strategic relations between the two countries."
Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez
Dear Vlad, Surprise! Surprise! You won. The #Russian people are crying too!
American senator John McCain on Twitter
"These elections were unfair, despite some innovations in the election process and unhindered possibilities for campaigning. Broadcast media was clearly biased in favour of one candidate and did not provide fair coverage of the other candidates."
Tonino Picula, head of the OSCE election observer mission
"Putin now has a choice about how to govern. He can turn outwards and try to unify his country by addressing the concerns of the protest movement. That would mean pushing through democratic reforms ... The more likely scenario is that he will try to keep his own power intact by using the familiar tools of political repression to contain and intimidate his opponents."
David Clark, chair of the Russia Foundation
"The election has not been exemplary. That is the least you can say. Putin has been re-elected by a large majority, so France, and her European partners will pursue its partnership with Russia."
Alain Juppé, France's foreign minister
"The EU ... noted the significant civic engagement in the campaign and that authorities allowed protests to take place without undue interference, but also identified shortcomings and irregularities in the preparations and conduct of these elections and that voter choice was limited."
Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs
"He's [Putin's] badly wounded, maybe even mortally wounded as a political leader and I have no doubt that he will not survive the next six years."
Chess champion-turned-activist Garry Kasparov
"I congratulate him [Putin], as well as the friendly government and nation of [Russia] ... for being elected president of the Russian Federation."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
"We overestimated ourselves. We thought the rest of the country knew what we know."
Opposition leader Alexey Navalny on Twitter
"Russia needs to continue modernising itself, and in the opinion of the chancellor, that cannot merely be an economic or technical modernisation ... It must be a political and social modernisation."
Spokesman for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel
"The Kremlin has yet to adequately respond to the protesters' demands. This probably means that the protests will increase in size and intensity. What's more, Russians face hikes in their utility bills coupled with cuts to social spending and pensions, despite election promises to the contrary. This alone could be enough to prompt people to take to the streets demanding change."
Nikolai Petrov in the Moscow Times
"The United States congratulates the Russian people on the completion of the presidential elections, and looks forward to working with the president-elect after the results are certified and he is sworn in."
State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland