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Putin is lonely like any other politician - Peskov

Press secretary of russian President does not rule out he can be sanctioned alongside with other Russian officials

MOSCOW, April 20, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is lonely like any politician but he has friends whom he can be proud of, according to Kremlin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

“Any politician is lonely,” Peskov told the TVTs channel on Saturday, adding that politicians could also have good friends.

“Sanctions imposed against Putin’s inner circle show how close his friends are to him. Putin said he was proud of his friends,” Peskov said, recalling Putin’s recent call-in session with Russian people.

“He is a lonely politician who has good friends,” Peskov stressed.

He does not rule out that he himself might be the target for U.S. and EU sanctions but he considers the sanctions imposed against people in the Russian leadership to be illegitimate.

“Naturally, I can be sanctioned like any other government official,” Peskov told Moscow’s TVTs channel on Saturday.

“The fact that the third and fourth persons in our state have been sanctioned is absolutely unacceptable and contradicts the spirit of our time,” the Kremlin press secretary said, adding it was impossible to imagine that anything like this could happen several weeks ago.

Peskov noted that sanctions could be imposed against any Russian official but doubted whether the method of sanctions would be effective in dealing with Russia.

“Will the language of sanctions work in dealing with Russia? No!” Peskov said in conclusion.

Russian President’s press secretary said he did not know whether Vladimir Putin would run for president in 2018.

“I do not know what plans Putin has for 2018. But if he runs for presidency, I will go and vote for him,” Peskov said.

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