[citation needed] He was nominated by Emilia Slabunova, the party leader, who stated that he will run as "an alternative to Putin and his system", and was endorsed by opposition politician Vladimir Ryzhkov.

[5] Some suggestions have been made after Navalny's candidacy was rejected by the Central Election Commission in late December 2017 that he should endorse Yavlinsky, who was accepted.

[6] On December 22, 2017, the Yabloko party congress officially nominated Grigory Yavlinsky as its candidate after a 98–4 vote in favor, with a member of the Central Election Commission present to monitor the procedures.

[10] He did not support the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and believes that another referendum should be held in the disputed region, and that Russia should hold a conference with the United Nations and Ukraine to determine the status of the peninsula after recognizing the 2014 events as a violation of international law.

[11] In addition, he wants to withdraw all Russian forces from Syria, as well as take measures to normalize relations with the European Union and the United States,[8] as he considers Russia to be politically part of Europe.