Putin to run for President?

Vladimir Radyuhin

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does not rule out returning to the Kremlin as President in 2012. Asked during a phone-in on Thursday whether he was considering running for President in the next election due in 2012, Mr. Putin said: “I will think about it; there is still enough time.”

He added that his decision would depend the economic and social situation in Russia. “Don’t hold your breath,” Mr. Putin told another person who asked whether he would like to leave politics and live a quiet life.

This is the strongest yet signal that Mr. Putin, who had to step down as President last year after serving two consecutive terms, may reclaim the post in 2012, when he is eligible to run again.

Mr. Putin’s marathon 4-hour-odd television show, the eighth one in the past eight years, heavily outshone any public appearance of his successor, President Dmitry Medvedev.

An opinion poll showed that Mr. Putin’s phone-in session was seen as more important than Mr. Medvedev’s state-of-the-nation address last month by a 3-to-1 majority of Russians.