Kremlin: Changing Law to Allow Putin Another Term Not on Agenda

The Kremlin said on Friday that a suggestion by regional lawmakers to change the constitution to allow President Vladimir Putin to serve another presidential term when his current term ends in 2024 was not on Putin's agenda.

Lawmakers in the southern region of Chechnya this week suggested Russia adopt a law that would allow the president to serve three terms in a row. The constitution currently bars anyone from serving more than two consecutive terms.

"This is a constitutional question," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Friday when asked about the proposal. "It is not an item on the president's agenda."

Peskov said Putin had made his position on changing the constitution clear in the past.

Putin in 2008 left the Kremlin after completing two presidential terms in line with the constitution and stepped aside to allow his close ally, Dmitry Medvedev, to serve a single presidential term while he served as prime minister.

Putin then returned to the presidency in 2012 and won another six-year term this year, prompting speculation about what he will do when his current term ends in 2024 when he will be 71 years old.