Dec. 17 -- Vladimir Putin agreed to become Russia's prime minister under his chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, who pollsters say is virtually certain to win the March 2 presidential election.
Putin said he wouldn't seek to weaken the powers of the next president by strengthening the role of prime minister. He was speaking at a congress of his United Russia party in Moscow that officially nominated Medvedev as its candidate for the presidential vote.
``If Russian citizens place their trust in Dmitry Medvedev, I'll be ready to continue work as head of the government without changing the distribution of powers between the presidency and government,'' Putin said, according to excerpts from his speech posted on the party's Web site.
Putin, who has to step down in May at the end of his second consecutive term, threw his support behind Medvedev, a long-time associate, on Dec. 10. The next day, Medvedev said that if elected president he would ask Putin to head the government as prime minister, giving the current leader a platform to retain power once out of the Kremlin.
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