MOSCOW, Feb 14 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Thursday shrugged off Western criticism of Russia's Mar. 2 presidential election as undemocratic.

"The fact it's going on quietly without debates, slowly, around the country does not speak to a lack of democracy in the country," Putin told an annual news conference in the Kremlin.

"Rather it speaks to the fact that a wide majority of the citizens of Russia support the chosen course."

Europe's security and human rights watchdog, the OSCE, has decided not to field observers to monitor the election, which Putin's anointed successor Dmitry Medvedev is expected to win easily.

The OSCE cited restrictions put by Russian officials on its monitors. "Well, let them rather teach their own wives how to cook soup," Putin commented on the OSCE criticism.

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