Putin Declines to Reveal Presidential Plans for 2018

I have said this many times and I can say it again - what I will say now is very important. As soon as an election campaign begins in Russia, everyone stops working.

- Good afternoon, Mr President. I'm Dmitry Smirnov from Komsomolskaya Pravda. Last May, also in China, I asked you if the time was right to announce if you would run for President next year. You said "No" then. Four months have passed. Is the time right now to say "Yes?"

 

- Look, I have said this many times and I can say it again — what I will say now is very important. As soon as an election campaign begins in Russia, everyone stops working. I have first-hand experience with this. Everyone starts thinking about what would happen after the elections, which jobs would go to whom, and so on. People must do their job now, without relaxing attention to the job at hand even for a minute. Therefore, I am sure that those who plan to take part in the next presidential election in Russia will announce their decision within the time stipulated by the law.