Majority of Russians want Putin to be president after 2018

Moscow: The majority of Russians want Vladimir Putin to continue to be their President after 2018, according to a poll by the Moscow-based Levada-Centre.

About 63 per cent of interviewees answered in the positive to the question "Do you want Putin to head Russia after 2018?", 19 per cent responded in the negative, and 19 per cent were undecided, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the survey, only 26 per cent of the respondents believe a new leader will arise in Russia to replace Putin as President, while 49 per cent think otherwise.

The survey was conducted from October 21 to 24 among 1,600 Russians aged 18 years and older in 48 regions of the Russian Federation.