Moscow, 6 September: Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he does not intend to stand for the office of Russian president in 2008.

During a meeting with the Russian president in the Kremlin, foreign political scientists and analysts asked Putin: "Can you say precisely whether you will stand for the office of Russian president in 2008? Will you change the constitution?"

"I will not stand for the office of Russian president in 2008. I believe that stability is the most important thing for the country. The constitution is the guarantee of stability. I do not intend to change it," the president replied.

Putin noted that the desire of those who are in power to keep it is natural and mentioned Germany as an example. "There is a leading candidate there and there is a candidate who is behind for the time being. But he continues fighting and he is right to do so," Putin noted.

Speaking of Russia, he stressed that there are no objective preconditions in the country for any kind of destabilization if policies that have been chosen and have been implemented for the past five years are continued. "Growth in real earnings of the population each year amounts to 10 per cent. This then is the basis of stability," the president said.

He believes it necessary to develop a multiparty system as the basis of stability. Strict compliance with the law is another basis of stability, the head of state noted.

"In 2008, I intend to leave the Kremlin, but I do not intend to leave Russia. And this is also one of the factors of stability," Putin also said.

Replying to a question as to what he will be doing after 2008, the president repeated what he had said earlier: "I would like my experience and knowledge to be absorbed by Russia."

The Russian president met a group of foreign political scientists and analysts specializing in Russia in the Kremlin on Monday [5 September]. They are in Moscow to attend an annual session of the Valday international discussion club, which has been organized by RIA-Novosti news agency together with the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy.