Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a press conference following the summit of “Big twenty”, said that interested in cooperation only with those who can be a real agenda. So the head of state also spoke about opposition leader Alexei Navalny, answering a question about his attitude to him, reports on Saturday, July 8, RIA Novosti.
“I believe that we can have a dialogue, especially of such level as the presidential or governmental level, with people that offer constructive agenda, even critical character. (…) If we are talking only about how to attract attention, it’s interesting for dialogue,” he said.
Earlier in June the head of state commented on the protest action, organized Navalny founded, the Fund of struggle against corruption (FBK) in several regions of Russia (some of them were not agreed with local authorities). Putin said that such events “are always possible in the framework of democratic procedures”, and any form of protest must comply with the law. However, he called unacceptable the rallies to be used as “tools of self-promotion and personal issues for the sake of self-promotion”.
Navalny has previously announced its intention to participate in presidential elections in Russia scheduled for March 2018. Nevertheless in the Central electoral Commission declare that the opposition will not be able to stand because of criminal record: in February 2017, the Leninsky district court of Kirov sentenced the politician to five years probation for arranging the theft of property of state enterprise “Kirovles”. Given the fact that since the sentencing three years have passed, the sentence expires in 2018.