Regardless of him heading the Government, Putin will never return to be the President again. The Government is not any significant institute in Russian political system. The President can fire it any time and for no apparent reason. If the Parliament is against, he can dissolve the Parliament too. In fact, the Government does not even have a significant grip on ruling the economy as all decisionmaking is concentrated in the state corporations. Regardless of how week and unambitious Zubkov may seem, once he is elected President, he will attain the ring of power and will be free of all obligations he may have given to the previous President. Mr. Putin as Prime Minister is destined to be a temporary and second-class player, and it will not do any good to his political leadership and moral authority. He better establish a fund or get employed with a reputable international organization than make a shameful puppet of himself.

Misha, Toronto,

Welcome back cold war, welcome back Stalin

Miles, Izmir, Turkey

Enlightened despotism at its best. Russia will keep a good man at the helm of its affairs, the shenanigans notwithstanding.

The end justifies the means. Machiavelli would have applauded Putin's move as a stroke of genius.

Mukefor, West Sussex, United Kingdom

I’ve just read 2 of your articles ‘Vladimir Putin proposes job swap at top to tighten his grip on power’ and ‘And for my next trick, I will turn into a prime minister’. According to your paper Putin is 54 and 56 years old (now)? What does it mean? Is it western Putin phobia?

Lily, Crimea, Ukraine

Hey, U all seem to have forgotten that "this is a man who was taught to kill bare-handed 46 different ways" (quoting Alan B'stard:) before learning about Public Relations... However, the old adage that "Russians only understand/respect violence" proves to be right once again.

Peter Tosh, Ekatarinasburg, guess...

Great News for Russia, and by extension, to the for the world. Russians are right in their instincts-they need warriors and not puppets at the helm of the biggest country on the planet.
Bad news-too few Putins in Russia. That's a real problem!!!

Emil, Simsbury, USA

If it's best for Russian people, why wouldn't he do so? If you pick up randomly 10 people anywhere in Russia, 7 of them would support Putin! (for now)

Igor, Cherljabinsk, Russia

I'm glad he did this statement. If before it I had been not incline to go to vote at all, then now I have a srong intention to go and vote for the United Russia. Far not everything they do I like, but with Putin on the top of their electoral list it's a completely different song. Anyhow, there must be somebody (and let it be this reliable politition) who will be able to withstand US attempts to repeat here something like the "orange" Ukrainian revolution. Just look at today's Ukrainian president Yushchenko -- he's a puppet of USA's!

Nick, Russia,

Long live the tsar!

chris, dublin,

i think it is a great move. mr putin is by far the most able person to lead the democratic russia. russia does need the able hands of mr putin to guide the country further in the war of wills against usa.

pawan kumar, new delhi, india

Great leader!

Pj, Nashville, USA

There is nothing at all surprising about this but I wish that I could share other people's enthusiasm for this neo totalitarian. Sure he has done a lot to restore Russia's faith and pride in itself but he is doing so by bullying its neighbours, silencing opposition even on the streets of London and marginalising what little democracy exists.

The two year term limit is there for a good reason, to prevent someone like Putin monopolising government and turning Russia back into a de facto one party state. This is the way all dictators start out. They chip away at the legal safeguards, slowly they build their own power until eventually what little opposition that remains is brutally stamped on. It will all happen over the next ten years.

And eventually this will affect us all. Just as Russia and China are rendering us powerless to do anything in Burma so their malign influence will grow until we find ourselves in another cold war or worse. I wish our leaders would wake up to this.

Paul Owen, Birmingham, UK

It's been done before. Ivan the Terrible put a figurehead replacement on the throne for a year, as a joke. The figurehead was lucky - he managed to escape with his life.

Ike Eisenhower, Brisbane, Australia

The bst news in years. Now lets hope G.W Bush does not try and look for a similar loophole in the American political system!

Wes Hunterville, Jakarta, Indonesia

Is anyone really surprised to see this?

Farrukh, Woking, UK

More good things to come for Russia!

JC, calgary, canada

If it aint broke, dont fix it.

If the Russians want to elect Putin again then surely they should be allowed whether its for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th term. The point is wether they want him as leader and if they do, then what is the problem?

Its democracy.

Im sure the Americans would rather of had Clinton for another term then George Bush and probably the rest of the world would have too.

Its stupid to be restricted to only 2terms provided the people want him to remain in charge.

How any English person can complain is beyond belief, you should be more concerned with your government denying you a referendum because its scared you will say no!!

what is democracy all about???

Denver, london, uk

Good for Russia

Helen, Manchester, UK

A truly idiotic remark from David Hughes of "Worthing".

Firstly, Mr Putin is not a "fairly small man" - he is of average height for a Russian.

Secondly, he is loved and respected by the majority of people in Russia - contrary to what the filtered western media would have western people believe.

Mashall (sic) arts? Although he is commander in chief of the Russian armed forces and therefore can "marshall" the forces, he is also a skilled *Martial artist*. I don't see what correlation there is here, although martial artsits tend to train to focus their mental and physical energies and attain a sense of balance in their lives.

I'm pretty sure that any "phycologist" would agree!

Ivan

Ivan, St Leonards, Sussex, UK

It is as surprising as it is simple. Your name has to be Putin to think of it ! I guess that the Russian people will support this move which means that Putin will stay in power and goes on building a strong Russia. He is a statesman with few equals in the world at the moment. It is reassuring that Russia will not turn into chaos again!

M van Egdom, Rhenen, Holland

Why would he need to let power go??? He is an excelent and exceptional politican who has put Russia back on the right track! He made Russia the great power again! To be honest I would even like him to stay as a president for 4th term, even if it requires changes in constitution.

Max, London,

"Putin drops bombshell: I want to be the next Russian Prime Minister" why cannot you ever tell the truth?

Putin was asked a question if he would want to be to a Prime Minister, and he said the he might and might not. There were never words like "I want to be" It's just so wrong to put it in your title.

"President Putin said he would be on the candidate list for elections to be held in December" - What really happened was that one of the parties invited Putin to be on their list of candidates. Everything what he did was saying thanks for the offer.

Alex, Washington, DC, USA

It just shows there is a will there is a way. Right or wrong? Only time can tell.

Cindy, London,

A two headed beast is a monster.

BKM, Rural, America

Uh OH!! Looks like the former head of the KGB wants to take the former USSR back to the "good" old days.

Mark Miller, Fort Lauderdale FL, USA

Nice to see communism is still alive and well in the former USSR!

Joe, Johanasburg,

Why is this a bombshell?

What he's doing is legal.

More importantly, what he's doing is good for Russia.

What Putin has done in Chechnya is repugnant to me, but in most other areas of policy, Putin has been a progressive force for Russia.

It is in all our interests to have a strong, stable Russia, and Putin is definitely making headway achieving that.

I have no doubt that a greater degree of democracy will come to Russia, but what she needs to achieve it is economic growth, stability, and the rule of law.

We will have a far healthier world when there are several centers of power.

JOHN CHUCKMAN, TORONTO, Canada

Coincidence that he unveiled his plans on the 50th anniversary of Sputnik? I think not...

Stupid American, LA, CA

It's pretty frightening that a man with the ability to order a nuclear holocaust is a man skilled in and still practicing the marshall arts. What would a phycologist make of that, especially as he is a fairly small man?

He will not let go power!

David Hughes, Worthing, UK