Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a session of the coordination committee of the All-Russian People’s Front that the government needs to maintain dialogue with opposition, despite part of protesters have a narrow range of political goals. Violations will be dealt with, RIA Novosti reports.
Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and other major cities are having protests. Putin commented that people should have the right to express their opinion and no one should be deprived of the right. All violations should be considered by the law enforcers.
Putin added that all adults are aware that part of organizers of protests are operating according to a well-known scenario and would want the situation to aggravate as in Kyrgyzstan or Ukraine, ITAR-TASS reports.
The Chistye Prudy in Moscow had sanctioned protests on Monday heading towards the Lubyanka. 300 people were detained. Opposition organized an unsanctioned protest on the Triumfalnaya Square on Tuesday with about 300 activists detained. Opposition plans another mass meeting in Moscow on Saturday. Protests were also held in other cities.
Vladimir Putin also had a negative reaction to the statement of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Russian elections. Her statement inspired Russian opposition.
The prime minister talked about the need for punishment of people following such inspirations. He noted foreign states cannot finance all spheres of action. Some foreign support is positive, for example healthcare funding.
Putin noted that Russia is still the largest nuclear state, which causes concerns of the West.
Concerning the inner problems, the prime minister spoke against a multifold increase of excises for alcohol and tobacco and expressed support for reduction of social insurance payments, he commented on proposal of Boris Titov, Chairman of the Business Russia.
