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Putin ready for dialogue with “non-system” opposition

"I’ve got a question to ask: what do they want?” the prime minister said

NOVO-OGAREVO, January 18 (Itar-Tass) — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he was ready for dialogue with the Voters’ League and the “non-system” opposition.

“We invited the abovementioned colleagues recently but they did not show up. They say “we want a discussion, but the authorities do not hear us. We invited them, but they don’t show up. And I’ve got a question to ask: what do they want?” the prime minister said at a meeting with mass media editors on Wednesday, January 18.

“Do they want to show that there is no discussion or they don’t want to have a discussion?” he asked a rhetorical question, turning to Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov, who asked whether Putin was ready for the dialogue.

“I do not rule this out. We are ready, and I personally am ready to meet them and talk. We invited them, but they did not come even once,” Putin said.