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Kremlin says Putin’s aide attending Donbass volunteers convention routine practice

The fifth congress of the Union of Donbass Volunteers was held in Moscow on December 14

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, December 16./TASS/. The participation of President Vladimir Putin’s Aide Vladislav Surkov in a convention of the Union of Donbass Volunteers public organization is routine practice, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"Russian officials communicate with citizens of the Russian Federation in any format, this is our prerogative right and we are not going to share it with anyone," the spokesman emphasized. Peskov said that he saw no contradictions between Surkov’s participation in the Union’s congress and his work towards a settlement in Ukraine at an expert level.

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"Frankly speaking, I don’t know specifically what volunteers we are talking about, since ‘volunteer’ is a broad term, they have their own organizations, they are citizens of the Russian Federation," Peskov said.

"Surkov is an aide to the [Russian] president, directly participating in the expert-level activity of the Normandy Four [Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France]," he went on to say. "The President of the Russian Federation is closely involved in the Normandy format issues, he continues doing so, and all participants have the same exact goal — assisting in achieving peace in the southeast of Ukraine and preventing the war from re-igniting," the Kremlin spokesman added.

The fifth congress of the Union of Donbass Volunteers was held in Moscow on December 14 with Surkov in attendance. The convention presented a report on the activity of the 14,500-strong Union. According to the chair of the organization, Alexander Borodai, the union is engaged, in particular, in the social adaptation of the Donbass defenders and arranging medical assistance for them.

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