Asked what he plans to do when he leaves the presidency, Vladimir Putin paused and smiled. Presidential elections will take place next March and Putin is widely expected to stand and win another six-year term. Putin spent three hours speaking with the assembled children, in a session broadcast live on Russian television. The discussion took place at Sirius, a school in Sochi for gifted children, which Putin opened several years ago. Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/TassSitting in an open-necked white shirt, with hundreds of schoolchildren arranged in circles around him, Putin took questions from those present and at times picked out cards with pre-written questions on them in a game-show-style format.

Source: The Guardian July 21, 2017 17:04 UTC