Fun: Medvedev and Putin might both run for president

Mr Medvedev said he might contest next March’s election and would decide on the matter “rather soon.” But Mr Putin, who is prime minister and still regarded as Russia’s most powerful politician by most observers, said: “If we give wrong signals now half the [Kremlin’s] administration and half the government will stop working in expectation of changes.”

Complaining that speculation over which of the two men would run was already disrupting government work, Mr Putin made it clear he thought the duo should delay a decision to prevent either of them becoming a lame duck.