President Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks released Tuesday that he will soon decide whether to seek re-election in March 2012, and portrayed himself as the agent of change in a country that needs it.
The comments were the latest in a series of assertive remarks suggesting that Medvedev wants to stay on as president for a new six-year term.
“It is high time for changes,” Medvedev said in an interview with China’s CCTV ahead of a visit this week to China for a meeting of the BRICS group of emerging market nations. “He who does not change remains in the past.”
Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have both said they will decide together on a candidate for the presidential election. Many analysts say Putin will ultimately decide whether to run himself, endorse Medvedev or back a third candidate.
Medvedev and Putin have faced pressure from some in Russia’s political elite to end the uncertainty.
“I do not rule out that I will run for a new term as president. A decision will be made, moreover, in the fairly near future because … there is less than a year remaining,” Medvedev said.