Putin: Sure, I Might Seek a 4th Term

Would make him second only to Stalin, AP notes
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 19, 2013 12:23 PM CDT
Putin: Sure, I Might Seek a 4th Term
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Novgorod Region, on the banks of Lake Valdai, Russia, Sept. 19, 2013.   (AP Photo/Maxim Shipenkov, pool)

Eleven more years of drunken arm wrestling, whale shooting, and crazy fish stories? Maybe. Vladimir Putin says he just might run for president of Russia again when this, his third term, is up in 2018. Putin made the comment during what RIA Novosti calls a "playful exchange" with a former French prime minister at a recent forum: Putin asked Francois Fillon whether he would run for president in France; Fillon refused to answer unless Putin answered first; Putin responded with "I don't exclude [the possibility]." The AP notes that if he does indeed serve four terms, Putin—who has also served as prime minister, don't forget—will have been Russia's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin. (More Vladimir Putin stories.)

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