Putin says yet to decide if he will run for president again in 2024

[December 17, 2020]    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he had not yet decided whether or not he would run for president again when his current term in the Kremlin ends in 2024, and that it was too early to talk about it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual end-of-year news conference, held online in a video conference mode, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia December 17, 2020. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

Putin presided over sweeping constitutional reforms this year that, among other things, allow him to run for two more six-year terms as president, potentially extending his rule until 2036.

The 68-year-old leader, in power as president or prime minister since the turn of the century, had been due to step down when his second consecutive presidential term, his fourth in total, ends in 2024.

"I haven't decided for myself whether I'll run or not in the election in 2024," he told reporters at his televised annual news conference.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Andrew Osborn and Polina Nikolskaya; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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