NEWLY re-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that he had “no intention of engaging in some kind of arms race” despite repeated assertions by western European politicians of the need to counter a supposed threat from his country.

Mr Putin won his fourth presidential term yesterday with nearly 77 per cent of the vote, his strongest electoral support ever.

His closest rival was Pavel Grudinin, the candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), who came second with 11.8 per cent. Rightwinger Vladimir Zhirinovsky came third with less than 6 per cent.