MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has never concealed his ability to have a degree of influence on the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) but the Russian leader has no power to press them or give instructions, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
This is how Peskov responded to the question of whether Wednesday's telephone conversation that Putin and the leaders of the DPR and the LPR had with regard to exchanging prisoners with Ukraine meant that Russia had moved away from its position that it is not a party to the conflict.
"Not in any way. We have no power to somehow put pressure on these unrecognized republics. We have no power to give somebody orders because these are republics that live an independent life. But the president has never concealed his ability to call upon them, the ability to exercise a degree of influence, though not unlimited but to a certain extent," Peskov said.
"This is precisely the influence that the head of state applies in reacting to the call from [the Ukrainian Choice - People's Right movement leader] Viktor Medvedchuk [for an exchange of prisoners between Donbas and Ukraine before the New Year holiday] and reacting to the approval [of the idea] expressed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia," Peskov said.