Putin considering Kremlin return-sources

Putin ruled as president from 2000 to 2008 before handing over to Medvedev to comply with a constitutional ban on a third consecutive term. He will be free to run in the March presidential election.

Putin, 58, and Medvedev, 45, have repeatedly refused to say which of them will run but as Russia's paramount leader, officials and diplomats say the decision is Putin's.

"I think Putin is going to run, that he has already decided to," said a highly placed source who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the political situation.

The source said Putin had been troubled by the perception that his protege, whom he has known for more than two decades, did not have sufficient support among the political and business elite or the electorate to ensure stability if he pushed ahead with plans for political reform.

"Putin has much more support from the people than Medvedev. Medvedev has overestimated his weight inside the system," he said.

Another highly placed source who declined to be identified said: "Putin wants to return, really wants to return."

The source said an attempt by Medvedev to assert his authority in recent months had unsettled Putin, but the two leaders communicated well on a regular basis.

A senior Kremlin source said it was up to the people, not the elite, who ruled Russia.

"The discussion should be not about support within the elite but about who has more support from the people," the Kremlin source said. "Support from the elite is not always decisive for the country to move forward."

Asked whether Putin was considering a return to the Kremlin, the prime minister's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said: "Vladimir Vladimirovich is working, working hard, rather than thinking about whether to run in the election."

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