Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin has said he is holding talks to galvanize Russia’s opposition, as presidential elections approach.
“I am holding consultations to unite democratic and liberal forces and to create a new party,” Kudrin wrote on his Twitter account on Friday. He did not elaborate with whom he was consulting.
Kudrin, who resigned in September after serving a decade as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s finance minister, has been urging dialogue between the Kremlin and the opposition.
In late December, he made an unexpected appearance at a major demonstration in Moscow against allegedly fraudulent parliamentary elections.
While a demand for a new vote still holds, opposition groups are now beginning to focus more on trying to prevent Putin from returning to the presidency in the forthcoming polls in March, when he will stand for reelection after two previous terms in the post.
