Putin’s Spokesman Calls Presidential Bid Question ‘Rhetorical’, ‘Untimely’

(RIA Novosti – September 19, 2013) The Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitriy Peskov, has said that the question put to Vladimir Putin during the meeting of the Valday (also spelt Valdai) discussion club on 19 September about the possibility of him standing in the 2018 presidential election was “rhetorical” and received an appropriate answer, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported in the early hours of next morning.

“Despite the fact that Vladimir Putin’s presidential term has just started, this question was also inexplicably present among other ones. Answering this untimely and not topical question, the president said that he really did not rule this out. To a rhetorical question, an appropriate answer was given,” RIA Novosti quoted Peskov as saying.

During the question-and-answer session of the Valday discussion club, Putin asked former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon whether he would stand for president. Fillon said that he would not answer this question until Putin answered a similar one. Putin’s reply was: “I don’t rule it out.”

[featured image is file photo from past event]