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Kremlin mum on whether Putin considered other candidates for PM besides Medvedev

On May 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin nominated Dmitry Medvedev for prime minister

© Alexander Astafyev/Russian Government Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/. Acting Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refrained from commenting on whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin considered any other candidates for prime minister in addition to Dmitry Medvedev.

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"I cannot answer this question (on whether other candidates were considered by Putin - TASS)," he told reporters. "You know that this is the purview of the head of state, he exercised this right and nominated Dmitry Anatolyevich [Medvedev]," Peskov noted.

When asked whether the Kremlin knew until Monday that Putin had chosen Medvedev, Peskov said, "Those who were supposed to know knew it and those who were not didn’t."

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin nominated Dmitry Medvedev for prime minister after his inauguration and submitted his nomination to the State Duma (lower house of parliament).

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