Vladimir Putin has given the strongest hint yet that he may return to the Russian presidency in 2012.

During a marathon televised question-and answer-session with the Russian public yesterday, the Prime Minister said he'd think about running in three years' time, and told a questioner who asked if he'd like to retire from politics and devote more time to family life, "don't hold your breath".

Mr Putin, who held the presidency from 2000-08, spent over four hours answering questions from carefully selected studio guests, video link-ups with factories across Russia, and also took telephone calls and responded to questions sent in by SMS and email.

The whole session was broadcast live on state-controlled television and radio. It comes at a time when polls have shown that Mr Putin's popularity rating, while still a very respectable 65 per cent, has fallen by 7 percentage points over the past month.

In accordance with the Russian constitution, Mr Putin was forced to step down as President last year after two consecutive terms, giving power to Dmitry Medvedev in a carefully managed transition.

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