Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly expressed her concern about the "fraudulent presidential elections" held in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a fifth term, as expected, without actual opposition participation.

The Russian Central Election Commission announced that Putin received a record number of votes, nearly 76 million votes, in these elections held from March 15 to 17, garnering about 87.3% of the votes with a turnout rate of approximately 77.5%.

After his overwhelming victory was officially announced, the Russian president promised to continue his offensive in Ukraine and launched new threats against Western countries.

In a press statement issued yesterday, Monday, the Canadian Foreign Minister said her government is concerned about "irregularities" in the election process in Russia.

Joly described these presidential elections in the largest European country by population as "undemocratic" and "incompatible with international standards."

Among the "irregularities," according to the Canadian Foreign Minister, were that the nomination procedures were "biased and exclusionary" in favor of Putin.

Joly also pointed in her statement to the "highly unbalanced media coverage" in favor of the Russian president.

The system (electoral) was designed to give preference to the chosen candidate and deprive voters of a real choice long before the polling began.

Joly reiterated Canada's condemnation of the large-scale military invasion of Ukraine carried out by the Russian president for more than two years.

"If Putin can celebrate today, history will judge him harshly because of his tyranny, his war, and his illegal attempt to annex the territory of a neighboring state," affirmed the Canadian Foreign Minister.