He had said, after 2014, he would not hold the position of President of Russia again. However, amidst the turmoil of the Ukraine conflict, Vladimir Putin seems to be reconsidering that decision, according to a source in the Kremlin.
The upcoming presidential election in Russia is scheduled for March. The Telegraph, a British newspaper, quotes the Kremlin source as saying that the 71-year-old Putin has made a decision regarding his participation in the election. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has not yet confirmed this directly. He stated on Monday, ‘An official announcement will be made only when a final decision is reached.’
For the past 23 years, Putin has been a prominent figure in Russian politics. He held the position of President from May 2000 to May 2008, winning two consecutive elections. According to current Russian law, a person cannot hold the position of President for more than two consecutive terms. Therefore, Putin handpicked Dmitry Medvedev to become President after him and took over as Prime Minister. He was re-elected in 2012 for a third term (after winning the election) and served as President for six years. He was re-elected in 2018.
In order to surpass the limit of two consecutive presidential terms, a Russian secret service agency, the FSB, changed the law in 2021. If he wins the presidential election for the fifth time (second consecutive term in his second stint), Putin will remain in power until 2030. The outcome of the election is widely expected to be in Putin’s favor, according to most political analysts in Russia. This means that Putin is now poised to break the record set by two former leaders of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin and Leonid Brezhnev, who both held power in the Kremlin for exactly 24 years. In terms of overall time in power, it’s now only Stalin ahead of Putin
