Putin says he had ‘no other choice’ than to run for president

Vladimir Putin said on Friday he would stand as a candidate in the Russian presidential election in March 2024. 

The vote will happen after almost a quarter of a century since the Russian President first came to power, and two years after he launched an assault on Ukraine.

“I am going to run for president,” Putin told a veteran of the Ukraine conflict on the sidelines of a ceremony at the Kremlin.

“At another time I had other thoughts regarding this issue. But I understand that today there is no other choice,” he said.

There is little doubt the 71-year-old will serve a fifth term, amid repression of the opposition. 

Owing to a 2020 constitutional reform that authorised him to run as a candidate again in 2024 and 2030, Putin can theoretically remain in the Kremlin until 2036 – the year he turns 84.

“Our president has never shied away and will never shirk his responsibilities. Today he proved it again,” Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the upper house of Parliament, wrote on Telegram.

Kremlin critics will likely not be able to stand in the vote, while the authorities have been crushing the opposition for years. Such repression accelerated with the invasion of Ukraine. 

The vote will be held on March 17, shortly after the second anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war. 

With 2022 marked by setbacks on the front and a volley of Western sanctions, Putin appears to be in a better position at the close of 2023. Kyiv’s summer counteroffensive has failed, support from the West is crumbling and Russia’s economic fortunes have improved. 

Almost all major opponents, such as anti-corruption activist Alexeï Navalny, have been thrown in prison or driven into exile, while any criticism of the Ukraine invasion is severely punished.