Vladimir Putin: Likely to seek re-election

RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday invited motorists, home owners and charity volunteers to join a movement which should help his United Russia party win a parliamentary election later this year.

Putin, Russia’s most popular politician despite formally being second in command to his hand-picked successor President Dmitry Medvedev, met activists in the ancient city of Pskov in western Russia.

“I would like United Russia to come to life again,” Putin told activists who applied for membership of his All-Russian People’s Front, a movement meant to link his party to other forces from civil society.