MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin explained to French President Emmanuel Macron during their talks last week that there is no bill recognizing the self-proclaimed Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk (LPR) People's Republics, this is just an initiative, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"There was a question about a bill of the sort, and explanations were given. This is not a bill, this is an initiative. There is no bill of the kind," Peskov said at a press briefing.
Journalists asked Peskov to comment on a statement by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, according to whom Putin said he could not take the Russian Communist Party's initiative into account. In response, Peskov read out the relevant abstract from the Putin-Macron conversation. "This is at odds with the practice. But I will read out what they said word for word just so that we understand how important it is not to distort information," he said.
Peskov read out abstracts from the verbatim report, according to which Macron expressed concern with the Russian recognition of the LPR and the DPR.
"The bill in the Russian State Duma. What are you planning to do with this bill? Can you put it on hold?" Peskov quoted Macron as saying.
"We have no bill. There is no bill whatsoever. This is an initiative of the Communist Party, the Russian Communist Party. It's their initiative. It is not supported by the main, ruling party United Russia," Putin replied.
Peskov said that the dialogue took place before the vote in the State Duma.
"I have read it to you word for word. I believe you can see the nuances," he said.
Journalists asked Peskov whether Putin really said that the initiative could not be taken into account.
"Of course," Peskov said.
The State Duma adopted a resolution on Tuesday to approve an instant address to the Russian president for the recognition of the DPR and the LPR.
The matter was put to a rating vote. The document authored by United Russia members Viktor Vodolatsky and Artyom Turov, which envisaged consultations with the Foreign Ministry, was discussed alongside the Communist Party's draft, which stipulated the Duma's instant address to the Russian president for recognizing the independence of the DPR and the LPR.
The Communist Party's draft won by 351 votes, while the parliamentary majority's initiative gained 310 votes.