Peskov Comments on Statement That Putin Will Be Reelected Next Year with 90% of Votes

The spokesperson for the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, has addressed a controversial statement attributed to him in a The New York Times article that "Vladimir Putin will be reelected next year, gathering over 90% of the votes." According to Peskov, The New York Times misinterpreted his comments. Tass reports on this matter.

“No, the author of this article has absolutely misinterpreted,” Peskov said in response to a question about the authenticity of the quote. The presidential press secretary added that he indeed met and spoke with this journalist, and one of the questions pertained to the elections.

“And the answer was as follows: the level of cohesion of society around the president is absolutely unprecedented, and we can now say that if he runs, he will be reelected with a huge majority, and the elections themselves are theoretically just additional costs,” Peskov stated.

According to him, he also told the author of the article that “the president himself said and insisted that elections must be mandatory, as this is a requirement of democracy.”

“And the president has spoken about this in his address to the Federal Assembly,” Peskov emphasized.

He also added that during his conversation with the journalist, he spoke about his personal opinion. The presidential elections in Russia will take place in March 2024. Putin has the right to run for a new term, but he has not yet commented on his decision regarding this matter.

It is noteworthy that the American newspaper published an article on Sunday addressing the Russia-Ukraine war and the current political situation in Russia. The author, Roger Cohen, quoted Peskov, who allegedly said that “Elections in Russia are not so much about democracy as they are about expensive bureaucracy. Putin will be reelected next year, gathering over 90% of the votes.”