Kremlin: Putin has influence over the separatist republics in eastern Ukraine
The Russian President Press Secretary has said that Vladimir Putin has influence on the leaders of the LPR and DPR separatist republics.
Commenting on Putin's recent talks with militants over the exchange of prisoners, Dmitry Peskov said that the influence is "not unlimited."
"The president has never concealed that he has the opportunity to handle appeals, the ability to exert a certain influence - not unlimited, but definite," the spokesman said.
Peskov said that the Kremlin "does not have the ability to somehow exert pressure on these unrecognized republics, and has no way to give someone instructions there."
Peskov noted that Putin responded to the proposal by the Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk - Ukraine's Special Representative for humanitarian issues at the Minsk talks.
One of the Ukrainian journalists asked him why the republics are not called ‘unrecognized’ on the Kremlin’s website.
"These republics are called such [DPR and LPR - ed.], and their name has been recognized and continues to be thus recognized on the Kremlin's website," Peskov replied.
As previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on November 15 with the leaders of the LPR and DPR terrorist organization, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, regarding Viktor Medvedchuk's initiative on the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine, and the DPR and LPR.