Loyalists to Russian leader Vladimir Putin have said that he should be referred to as the country’s “ruler” rather than “president” in order to move away from terms derived from Western language. 

Citing state-run news outlet RIA Novosti, Newsweek reported that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) – seen as traditionally loyal to the Kremlin – proposed the idea of replacing the term “president” with “pravitel”, which means “ruler” in English, because the term “president” has not yet taken “root completely” in Russia. 

The party also said that using the term “president” has always “embarrassed” them. They argued that the term was first used at the end of the 18th century in the United States and much later it spread through the world. 

“In our country, by historical standards, this is generally a new word, and until it takes root completely, you can safely replace it. For example, with the phrase “head of state” or the word “ruler”. Both are more understandable to the Russian ear,” the LDPR said as per the outlet. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, on the other hand, has said that Vladimir Putin has no position on this matter. “Right now all this is at the discussion stage,” Mr Peskov said, adding, “President Putin has no view on this.”

Meanwhile, this comes after it was reported that in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, a dictionary has been prepared to replace words borrowed from foreign languages. Head of the regional parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, reportedly said last month that officials have prepared “very nice dictionaries with a certain sense of humour”.

Mr Konstantinov informed that the dictionary contains Russian variants of “borrowed” words. “The dominance of foreign words is dangerous for our culture and language. The time has come to put an end to this,” he added