Russian prime minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin confirmed on Friday his plans to appoint current President Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister in the next government should he win the March 4 elections.
“My offer to him and our agreement on such power sharing, it’s not only about [our] willingness to stay in power, but also to continue the reforms that have been launched,” Putin said during a meeting with editors-in-chief of several leading foreign newspapers in his Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow.
In September last year, Putin and Medvedev announced their plans to swap jobs after Medvedev's presidential term expires in 2012. Putin said the plans were agreed four years ago when he picked Medvedev as his successor on the presidential post.
The editors-in-chief of France’s Le Monde, Britain’s The Times, Italy’s La Repubblica, Germany’s Handelsblatt, Canada’s The Globe and Mail and Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper participated in the interview with Putin.
