Western pressure on Russia played into the hands of its sitting president at last Sunday’s election in that it pushed voters to unite around a strong leader.

Kanal24 informs, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RT news channel.

Asked if pressure from the West towards Russia helped consolidate Russian public opinion, Peskov replied, "Partly yes, of course, we can hardly ignore this effect of international pressure coming from the outside."

"When they face any pressure coming from the outside they unite and they unite around a strong leader. This happened numerous times during our history. And, of course, partly it’s happening now because when you see an unprecedented pressure," he explained.

With 99.94 percent of ballots counted, Putin is in the lead with a historic 76.68 percent of votes, much higher than in 2012. Russia’s Central Election Commission is expected to publish the final tally soon.