MOSCOW, Dec 07 (TNS): President Vladimir V. Putin announced on Wednesday that he would seek a fourth term as president of Russia in a March election that he is expected to win handily.
A full, six-year term until 2024 would make his 24-year tenure including his years as prime minister the longest by a Russian leader since Joseph Stalin sat in the Kremlin for 29 years.
Mr. Putin made the long-anticipated announcement on the floor of a vehicle factory in the northern industrial city of Nizhny Novgorod. He delivered a brief statement in the seemingly spontaneous yet carefully choreographed manner he favors for major appearances broadcast live on state television.
Mr. Putin said “There is no better space and no better occasion to announce this,” he said. “I will run for the presidency of the Russian Federation.”
Domestically, Russians experienced instability and poverty after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. After assuming the presidency in 2000, Mr. Putin brought stability and an extended period of prosperity, with Russians gaining more household income in the first eight years of his term.
