MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) - The Kremlin does not consider it right to disclose the content of negotiations between heads of state, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, in commenting on the French foreign minister's remarks concerning a discussion between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron on the likelihood of the self-proclaimed Donbas republics' recognition by Russia.
"It's not something we see as correct for ourselves [divulging the contents of top-level negotiations]. We never do that, and we don't consider it right, because next time this might simply prevent leaders from speaking confidently to each other if they aren't sure that all they say won't be circulated in the media a few days later. This restricts their room for maneuver in discussing very, very sensitive and challenging subjects. We never disclose the content of such negotiations," Peskov told journalists on Thursday.
He thus commented, at journalists' request, on French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's remarks that, while Putin and Macron negotiated recently at the Kremlin, the Russian president told his French counterpart that the idea of recognizing the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) belonged to the Communist Party and that the Russian leader could not reckon with it.
"But what is also very important here, is that the nuances have been misreported in Mr. Minister's statement. And it's extremely, extremely harmful in such a sensitive and critical situation as the one we have today," Peskov said.