MOSCOW, December 05. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russian citizens should not demand special rights for themselves for the reason of their ethnic background or religious affiliation.

“Ethnic Russians are a state-forming nation. But Russia has always been multinational and multi-religious and that’s what made it strong. If we want to preserve it, then we should pay close attention to these problems. The only right approach is to consider all citizens of Russia to be equal irrespective of their ethnicity or religious affiliation,” Putin told a conference of the All-Russia People's Front (ONF).

Putin explained that such an approach meant that everybody should abide by Russian laws, everybody should be treated equally and everybody should be equally responsible for observation of Russian laws irrespective of nationality, ethnicity or religion.

“No one should shelter themselves by claiming to be exceptional and demand any special rights for themselves,” the Russian president said.

He called on Russian Popular Front activists to pay attention to cases of corruption and ethnic crimes and inform the authorities of these facts.

“That will help us to react to these problems faster and sharper,” Putin stressed.