David Cameron: Russian charges against Greenpeace activists are 'excessive' He said: "Their charges have been dropped from piracy to hooliganism, but I still think that is excessive. They are not hooligans, they are protesters. I totally understand that countries have to have some quite tough rules to stop people invading oil platforms, but I have appealed to Vladimir Putin to try to de-escalate this and make sure that these people can go home. His intervention came just hours before Russia said that the activists will now face the additional charge of resisting law officers - which carries max sentence of five years. Mr Cameron's spokesman said that Mr Putin "understands" Mr Cameron's concerns and the pair had agreed to stay in touch. "This is now in the hands of the judicial authorities in Russia," the spokesman said. We have made the representations that we have and we are going to use our diplomatic influence to continue ensuring that the Russian authorities understand the importance that we attach to resolving this. In a separate interview for Heart FM the Prime Minister said: "What I have said was that of course I understood that this was a matter for Russia because it is their oil platform but I appealed to president Putin while the charges have been downgraded from piracy to hooliganism I said that these people aren't hooligans they are environmental protesters so I hope that we can resolve this situation so that's what I have done I think it is important we use all our diplomatic influence to explain the importance of resolving this issue and I'm waiting to hear the results."