MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Many of those in the West "really don’t like Putin" and want Russia to have a different president, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with RTVI.

"Many of them really don’t like Putin and they want Russia to have a different president, so that Russia will have a president who won’t talk about red lines, <...> who turns a blind eye to the operations of foreign-bankrolled media outlets, <...> who will allow gay pride parades, who will squander Russian territory, <...> who would turn a blind eye to nuclear missiles stationed in Dnepropetrovsk," he said.

The Kremlin official stressed that the Western information space "is not so free" and "in many ways functions as an agent." In his words, the dislike of foreign media outlets to Putin drives them to cast around for just about anyone as a potential Russian leader.