MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The issue of the presidential election is so far not on the Kremlin’s agenda, Russian Presidential Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Thursday when asked to comment on the intention of opposition politician, Alexey Navalny, to run for president.

"Firstly, the issue of the elections is not on the agenda yet," Peskov said.

"Secondly, the list of criteria for Russian citizens willing to run for presidency is enshrined in the Constitution," he noted.

"Consequently, any citizen of the Russian Federation is eligible to run for president, if he or she meets these criteria." 

Kremlin on rescheduling presidential election 

Chatter about possibly rescheduling Russia’s presidential elections set to be held in 2018 amounts to fortune telling:

"I don’t know, I don’t read coffee grounds," the presidential spokesman said, commenting on media reports saying that there are plans to reschedule Unified Election Day.

"No decisions have been made so far, that’s all I can say. The election date has not been set yet, the election campaign has not started," Peskov stressed.

Head of Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) Ella Pamfilova said earlier that the commission had not yet adopted an explicit position on the possible rescheduling of the elections. She added that on December 21, at a meeting with chairs of local election commissions, held behind closed doors, various opinions had been expressed.

According to the CEC head, someone who has a loose tongue must have provided the preliminary information on the possible rescheduling to the media. "We may have discussed many things, this is our internal affair, it is too early to announce a final decision," Pamfilova told TASS.

Kremlin remains pragmatic about the future of Russia-US relations 

The Kremlin has no illusions about the possibility of a breakthrough in the Russian-US relations after Donald Trump takes office, Peskov reiterated. However the Kremlin expects an improved dialogue.

"We hope that the new administration will adopt a more meaningful approach," Peskov said.

"We don’t look at the world through rose-colored glasses and have no illusions about a possible breakthrough, but we hope to see a more meaningful approach," the presidential spokesman reiterated.

Peskov pointed out that at present, the two countries’ relations are confined to the contacts between the Russian Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State. "Inter-parliamentary dialogue, dialogue between business and public organizations, cultural interaction as well as political consultations have been frozen, but we did not initiate it," the Kremlin spokesman said.