Vladimir Putin will almost certainly return to the Russian presidency as the current president, Dmitry Medvedev, announced that he will step aside, and endorse Putin as his successor.

Months of speculation were confirmed on Saturday when Medvedev told the ruling United Russia party in Moscow that he would back Putin's return to Kremlin next year.

Putin, currently the prime minister, accepted the stage-managed proposal from Medvedev, which means that in theory he could rule Russia until 2024, by which time he would be 72.

The presidential election will take place next March but the vote is in reality a mere formality.

Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin adviser, told the Daily Telegraph that the news this morning was “humiliating for Russia.”
He continued: “It is a blow to the institute of the presidency. Medvedev has betrayed those who believed him and politically self-destructed.”