“Ten years ago we hadn’t had any middle class,” he said, just a group of workers struggling to secure cars, apartments and financial security for their families. “Now, they got it. And the interesting part of the story is that they want to be involved much more in political life.”

He said that a set of changes announced by President Dmitri A. Medvedev in December — which would return direct election of governors and lower the threshold for creating political parties — were a response to voters’ demands. These demands, he said, did not come as a surprise to Mr. Putin.

“He is the one who feels the country; he’s the one who knows the country from inside,” Mr. Peskov said. “And he is the one who knows, let’s say, different parts of the society. He knows the problems of those who are poor. He knows the rich. He knows the middle class. And he was interested, from the beginning, to get a clear understanding.”

He said the prime minister was “doing his best to understand what is the source of dissatisfaction,” but had found demands rigid and frustrating.

“Regularly, he looks at people, he listens, he watches,” he said. “The problem is when people are shouting ‘return our voices’ — we have never stolen their voices. And when they cry ‘Putin, go away!’ he feels the support of millions of people in this country who shout, ‘Putin, stay! Putin, help! Putin, be with us!’ ”

Mr. Peskov said that if elected, Mr. Putin would not “tighten the screws” by cracking down on dissent. But Mr. Peskov would not speculate on whether Mr. Putin would allow presidential power to be weakened. “We have to give him a right to choose whether to increase or decrease the amount of authority,” Mr. Peskov said. “Because he will be elected as a general manager of this country. Let him perform his duties. So when you elect a C.E.O. of a company, you trust him until the next board. Then the board comes together and says, ‘Is he effective? Yes, he is. Then let him continue. Is he effective? No, he is not, let’s have another one.’ ”

He seemed unruffled by the prospect of Saturday’s protest, or others expected after next month’s election, which Mr. Putin is virtually assured of winning. In a country of 135 million, the opinion of 100,000 protesters cannot make elections illegitimate, Mr. Peskov said. But new technology has made it easier, he acknowledged, gesturing at a smartphone in the room.

“This thing can be used as a perfect tool for education and saving lives,” he said. “At the same time, you can buy a child prostitute using this. You can buy drugs, can’t you? And you can provoke riots very easily using this thing. And it is being done here, like in lots of countries.”