No decision yet on Putin candidacy in March presidential election: Kremlin

The Kremlin, asked on Monday about a report in Russia’s Kommersant newspaper that preparations were afoot to nominate President Vladimir Putin to run again in March’s presidential election, said no decisions had been made yet.

Citing six sources, Reuters reported Putin has decided to run in the March presidential election, a move that will keep him in power until least 2030, as the Kremlin chief feels he must steer Russia through the most perilous period in decades.

Putin, who was handed the presidency by Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already served as president for longer than any other Russian ruler since Josef Stalin, beating even Leonid Brezhnev’s 18-year tenure.

Putin turned 71 on Oct. 7.

The sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of Kremlin politics, said that news of Putin’s decision had trickled down and that advisers were now preparing for the campaign and a Putin election.