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Kremlin says Putin, Medvedev did not discuss constitutional amendments

The Kremlin declined to comment on Medvedev’s remark on possible constitutional amendments

MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday he has never heard Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing constitutional amendments with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

"I know nothing about this, I have never heard about this," Peskov said in reply to a question on whether such discussion has taken place.

Peskov declined to comment on Medvedev’s remark on possible constitutional amendments in an article, devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Russian constitution.

In his article published by the Zakon magazine, Medvedev said the amendments to Russia’s key law may concern only updating the status of government bodies and developing rights. "The constitutional amendments can be certainly aimed at updating the status of government bodies, developing rights but should never reduce the level of protecting individuals or undermine the basis of the country’s democratic system," the premier said.

"I personally had to present the proposals aimed at improving the system of government bodies [on extending the term of powers of the Russian president and the State Duma and the report of the Russian government to the Duma]," he said. "But these were pin-point changes and did not concern the rights of individuals."

Medvedev noted that sometimes calls are made to amend the constitution or even adopt a new one. "Certainly, these changes may be explained by the challenges of the time, and the constitution stipulates a clear order of changes," Medvedev stressed. "Our founding fathers envisaged this mechanism."