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Putin to address Russians on constitutional amendments if necessary — Kremlin

The spokesman noted that the president had given his clarifications regarding the constitutional amendments many times

© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin may deliver his address to Russian citizens on the constitutional amendments if he believes this is necessary, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"If the president believes there is the need to address citizens before or after the vote, he will do this. When he takes this decision, we will inform you," Peskov said.

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The Kremlin spokesman noted that the president had given his clarifications regarding the constitutional amendments many times. The president should not personally explain the amendments since there are many channels of information for this, the spokesman stressed. "When questions are asked, certainly, he answers them. But we can hardly expect that the president will be the only person who explains the essence of the amendments."

The process of clarifying the amendments is not only limited to just one Internet resource and the discussion is held at various platforms. "So, we should look at the picture in general," Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on holding the nationwide vote on amendments to the Constitution on July 1.

In January 2020, in his message to the Federal Assembly Putin suggested introducing a number of amendments to the key law that would better meet the modern realities and consolidate the achieved results. After a special group discussed the proposed amendments the State Duma (lower house) adopted the presidential bill in the final reading on March 11. Later in the day the bill was approved by the Federation Council and endorsed by the legislative assemblies of all of Russia’s regions. The Federation Council considered the results on March 14 and sent its resolution to the president.

Originally, Putin signed a decree to hold the nationwide vote on the amendments on April 22. However, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic Putin addressed the nation on television on March 25 to say that the voting had to be postponed. The amendments will take effect only if they are approved in a plebiscite.

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