President Vladimir Putin, who has been lambasted around the world for a new law regulating NGOs, walked into a massive room full of NGO activists Tuesday and pledged he would personally ensure the law was not too onerous.
"This law was meant to create order in this sphere, not to stiffen" regulations of nongovernmental organizations, Putin told the crowd of several hundred activists gathered at the World Trade Center Moscow complex. "If we find that there is, in fact, a stiffening of the regulations, I myself am ready to act to initiate changes, including those you recommend."
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