War of Ukraine and Russia, live | Eight injured in a Russian bombing of a fire station in Kharkiv | International

Putin receives Yavlinski, one of the last free opponents in Russia, who asks for a ceasefire in Ukraine

One of the few remaining opponents in Russia, Grigori Yavlinsky, has been received by the leader who has put an end to practically all dissidence in the country, Vladimir Putin. The press service of the party that Yavlinski founded, Yábloko, has confirmed the meeting between the two. According to the formation, which has no representation in the State Duma, the president and the opponent have not addressed the imminent presidential elections in March, and the latter has demanded a ceasefire from the Kremlin in the invasion of Ukraine.

Yavlinsky is a historical figure of the Russian opposition. A high official at the end of the Soviet Union and promoter of the 500 Days plan for a free market economy, the opponent, unlike other dissidents, insists on doing politics within Putin's system.

Yábloko has not specified who promoted the meeting, and has stressed that its founder promises to run for president next year as long as he collects 10 million signatures for his nomination.

The meeting also takes place when Russian independent media have revealed that the Kremlin is looking for easy rivals for Putin for the March 2024 elections. According to two presidential sources, the newspaper Medusadeclared an undesirable organization by the authorities, the Kremlin does not want candidates under 50 years old who can bring up that Putin is turning 71 and almost a quarter of a century in power

Another diary, Knowledgehas said that Putin's formation, United Russia, seeks a "liberal" formation that complements the Communist Party of Russia and the populist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, both with parliamentary representation and in Putin's orbit for three decades.

The Kremlin did not want to comment on the meeting, the date of which has not been specified. According to the Russian newspaper Kommersantthis meeting happened during the afternoon of last Wednesday, October 25, when Yavlinski appeared in the Kremlin and entered the office “quickly, without speaking to anyone, as if he were late.” The opponent previously ran in the presidential elections of 1996, 2000 and 2018.