MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that President Vladmir Putin enjoys a very strong "background of popular trust."

"I recall one day when Putin was Russia’s prime minister. It was a year of strong wildfires. He visited one village, a fairly large village that had burned to the ground. He talked to the local residents, who were in an extremely grave difficult condition. They lost everything: IDs, homes, schools, clothes and food. Putin alone made them certain that in just two months everything would be up and running. And he did that," Peskov said at the educational marathon of the Russian society Znaniye (Knowledge) on Wednesday.

"But in order to have this power of persuasion, one must not only understand what is realistic and what is not. You need to have a background from the standpoint of trust. Putin has earned this background and it is very strong. The people know that if he promises something, he will surely do that," he added.

The skill of persuasion, he said, is often used in the most dramatic circumstances. Peskov disagreed with one of his listeners in the audience in that one must adhere to the opinion of the majority in order to master the art of persuasion.

"It depends on the charisma, the degree of each person’s responsibility. After all, you use the ability to persuade in the most difficult situations," Peskov stressed.

While answering a question about manipulation, Peskov noted that all people came across manipulation attempts from time to time when it came to persuasion.

"Most often, those who have some unscrupulous motives are faced with manipulation. Let's put it this way: harmless manipulations have existed all along and they will continue to exist. Please, treat this with understanding. For every power of persuasion there is a power of counter-persuasion. Use it," he said.