MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not discussed his intention to seek re-election in 2024 with his foreign counterparts, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

"No," Peskov said, when asked whether Putin had spoken to any foreign leaders about the move during his recent numerous communications and whether he had told them about his plans to run for re-election.

Earlier today, Putin agreed to run for president in the March 2024 election. He was asked to do so by the Donetsk People’s Republic parliament speaker, Artyom Zhoga, when Putin was meeting with participants in a Kremlin ceremony honoring Heroes of the Fatherland Day. Zhoga later recounted the conversation to reporters.

Putin’s presidency

Putin is running for president for the fifth time. If he wins, he will serve as head of state for another six years, until 2030.

Putin was first elected to the nation's highest office in 2000 for a four-year term. Following the resignation of Russia’s first President Boris Yeltsin on December 31, 1999, Putin was appointed acting president. On January 12, 2000, a group of people nominated him as a candidate for early presidential elections, and the next day Putin agreed to take part, announcing the decision in his home town of St. Petersburg, in a speech at St. Petersburg State University.

Putin announced his bid for re-election in the 2004 vote when he was holding a televised call-in show on December 18, 2003. When his term expired in 2008, he left office because he was constitutionally barred from serving more than two consecutive terms. Dmitry Medvedev was elected as Russia's new president, and Putin became prime minister.

On September 24, 2011, Medvedev suggested that the United Russia party support Putin's nomination for the 2012 presidential election. Putin gave his consent, won the vote, and served as president for six years rather than four, as the legislation on presidential terms had been revised.

Just like today, Putin in 2018 did not state his re-election ambitions until the last minute. He expressed the opinion that if a presidential bid is announced too early, it is detrimental to bureaucracy, with officials becoming more focused on the campaign than routine work. Six years ago, Putin announced his presidential bid at a meeting with veterans and workers of the GAZ automobile plant on December 6.

2024 election

Today’s announcement fell on December 8, the day after the date of elections was set by the Federation Council. According to law, presidential hopefuls have 20 to 25 days from the Federation Council’s decision to submit registration paperwork to the Central Election Commission, depending on whether the candidate is running as an independent or represents a political party.

This time, the constitutional restriction prohibiting a president from serving more than two consecutive terms does not apply. Amendments that were made to the Constitution in 2020 stipulated that the sitting president at the time could run in the next election, regardless of any previous terms.

Public opinion

According to the latest poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, also known as VTsIOM, 78.5% of Russians trust Putin, while Putin’s approval rating stands at 75.8%. The survey was conducted from November 27 to December 3, covering 1,600 adult Russians.

According to the Public Opinion Foundation, also known as FOM, the majority of Russians (70%) supported the potential nomination of Vladimir Putin for a new term, said a poll conducted from October 12 to November 13, covering 6,100 adults. This support, according to sociologists, has more than doubled in recent years. Among the emotions that are most often evoked by the president, the poll’s respondents mainly named trust, hope, calmness, confidence in the future, pride and gratitude. More than 60% of the survey participants said that Putin's activities meet their interests. More than 70% of respondents answered in the affirmative when asked whether the president understands ordinary people’s wants, needs and interests. Also, 63% of respondents said young people now have more chances to succeed in life than five years before.

On December 7, the Federation Council passed a resolution to set the Russian presidential election for March 17, 2024. The presidential election for the first time will be held over three days from March 15-17, according to the Central Election Commission.