Putin hints at presidential comeback in 2012

Moscow, May 9 (ANI): Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has hinted that he wants to comeback as president of the country in 2012.

Putin said there was no decision as yet on whether he or his close ally Dmitry Medevedev, the current president, would run for office when Medvedev's four-year-stint in the job expires.

"Depending on the effectiveness of our work, President Medvedev and I will take decisions about what to do in the future, he and I," The Guardian quoted Putin, as saying.

"I have very good relations with President Medevedev. Each one of us does our work. We each have our niches. But of course at this level, questions frequently arise that cross over," he added.

Despite Medvedev being sworn-in as President last May, analysts believe that Putin remains the most important figure in Russian politics.

Commentators say that Medvedev has been trying to nudge Russia in a more liberal and less authoritarian direction. Skeptics, however, say the differences between the two are stylistic.

In 2008, Medvedev extended the presidential term from four to six years - fuelling speculation that Putin was already plotting a comeback. Putin served eight years as president from 2000-2008, before taking up his current job.

Putin said the economic crisis that has battered Russia would decide which of the two men stood in 2012.

"I have known him for a long time and I know he will look at his political future based on the interests of the country," Putin said.

The relationship between Medvedev and Putin remains something of a mystery. They have known each other since the early 1990s, when they worked together in St Petersburg's mayor's office, with Putin naming Medvedev as his successor in autumn 2007. (ANI)