Vladimir Putin is facing many challenges on domestic and foreign fronts as he starts his 4th term as President of Russia. One is to control inflation and revive Russia's struggling economy. But he's also facing confrontations with the West over issues like Ukraine and Syria. Our correspondent Julia Lyubova reports from Moscow.

Vladimir Putin inaugurated for a fourth term as Russian President, in a lavish ceremony at the Kremlin watched by hundreds of guests.

Taking oath, President Putin promised to serve the Russian people and to improve their lives, comparing Russia to a Phoenix rising from ashes.

VLADIMIR PUTIN RUSSIAN PRESIDENT "For more than a thousand years of history, Russia has often faced epochs of turmoil and trials and has always revived as a Phoenix, has reached the heights that others could not, the heights which were thought to be unreachable."

But President Putin and the government are facing a difficult task ahead to revive the Russian economy which has been weighed down by low oil prices and Western economic sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine and alleged meddling in the US election.

MARIA LIPMAN INDEPENDENT ANALYST "Of course the sanctions, of course they're highly inauspicious and hostile environment for Russia today. It is a problem, it's a problem for attracting investment, this is a problem for borrowing. This is a problem. But this is not a problem that the government will be unable to handle."

Vladimir Putin's fourth term also comes at a time when Russia has also been harshly criticised over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK and its support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

JULIA LYUBOVA MOSCOW "Russia's relations with the West are at their lowest level since the Cold War. Moscow had many hopes pinned on Donald Trump for improvement to relations with the United States. But after US-led airstrikes on Syria over an alleged chemical weapons attack and the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Vladimir Putin is facing more foreign policy challenges than ever. JL, CGTN, Moscow."