The United Statessaid Monday that it recognizes President Vladimir Putin as the leader of Russia and is prepared to deal with him for another six terms, while also emphasizing the March 15-17 presidential election was neither free nor fair. “Nothing about the election outcome was unpredictable because Putin had closed the political space, had locked up political opponents. Some of his political opponents had tragically died,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press briefing. Russian election authorities said Monday that Putin won the race with 87.28% of the votes. B…