Putin does not rule out running for third time in 2012: report

Russian president Vladimir Putin, whose term as Russian president ends next year, does not rule out running for presidency again in 2012, a leading Russian daily reported on Saturday. The constitution limits him to two successive four-year terms in power, though further terms are possible after a break. Putin has said he will not change the constitution to get a third consecutive term, but has already made it clear that he will not retire altogether after the March 2008 election. Asked by reporters in the German town of Heiligendamm, where leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations met on Friday, whether he could run again in 2012, Putin replied: “In theory it’s possible and the constitution doesn’t forbid it.” “However, there’s still a long way to go and I haven’t even started thinking about that,” he added, according to the daily Kommersant.