Putin against restoring monarchic rule in Russia

(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a cold attitude towards the ideas of restoring monarchic rule in Russia, the presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on recent statements by Crimea’s head Sergey Aksyonov.

“Monarchy in an individual region of Russia is ruled out,” he said, when asked if it might be possible to consider the restoration of monarchic rule in Crimea.

Peskov described Aksyonov’s statement as his “private opinion.” “He is free to speak his mind,” Peskov said, while refraining from expressing his own ideas on that score.

Peskov recalled that Putin had repeatedly voiced his attitude to the idea of expanding the president’s powers to dictatorial dimensions.

“He has no optimism at all about such ideas. Over the past five years he has been asked more than once about that and he was forced to answer such questions in this or that context. He has a very cold attitude to such discussions. This is will-known,” TASS cited Peskov as saying. / Vestnik Kavkaza