Vladimir Putin

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks at a business forum in Moscow on Thursday, May 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (right), speaking at a government meeting in the Gorki residence outside Moscow on Friday, may have to negotiate with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (left) as to which one will be the next elected president of Russia. (Associated Press)

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Mr. Putin's speech last week is seen as a signal that he wants to reclaim the country's presidency. "The nation needs decades of stable and calm development without any sharp movements and ill-conceived experiments" based on liberal policy, he said. (Associated Press)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, addressing the State Duma, the parliament's lower chamber, in Moscow on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, said Russia must be "independent and strong" to resist outside pressure. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

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Vice President Joseph R. Biden speaks to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (second left), during their meeting in Moscow on Thursday. The talks in Moscow are expected to focus on missile defense cooperation and Russia's efforts to join the World Trade Organization. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, foreground, crosses himself as he attends an Orthodox Christmas service in the XIX century church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God in Turginovo village, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (left) listens to a question during a call-in session broadcast live on Russian state television and radio from Moscow on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chairs a government meeting in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. Putin said Wednesday he will not fly to Zurich for the 2018 World Cup vote because he wants to avoid exerting any pressure FIFA officials ahead of the vote. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chairs a government meeting in Moscow, Monday, Nov. 29, 2010. Putin says Russia could import grain in the aftermath of last summer's drought to help keep domestic prices low. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, Prime Minister of Nepal Madhav Kumar, center, and, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina attend the International Tiger Forum in St.Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks at the International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. Officials from the 13 countries where tigers live in the wild have signed a declaration aimed at saving the iconic big cats from extinction. Russia is home to Siberian tigers, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted the "tiger summit." (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool)

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In this Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010, photo Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left with U.S. actor Leonardo Di Caprio, right, after a concert dedicated to tiger conservation in St. Petersburg, Russia. Officials from the 13 countries where tigers live in the wild have signed a declaration aimed at saving the iconic big cats from extinction. Russia is home to Siberian tigers, and Putin hosted the "tiger summit." (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, Prime Minister of Nepal Madhav Kumar, center, and, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina attend the International Tiger Forum in St.Petersburg, Russia, on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin prepares to drive a Renault racing car at a racetrack outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday. Mr. Putin tested his capacities as a Formula One driver. (Associated Press)

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In this photo taken Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks with road makers, not seen, while traveling on a newly opened highway Chita- Khabarovsk, in Russia's Far Eastern region of Amur, some 3,800 miles southeast of Moscow. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands while visiting the construction site of a new launch facility, the Cosmodrome Vostochny, outside Uglegorsk, some 3,600 miles (5800 kilometers) east of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010. Russia will launch its manned space missions from a new center in the Far East in 2018, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Saturday, as the country seeks greater independence for its space program. (AP Photo/Alexei Druzhinin, Pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a crossbow as he sits on a rubber boat at the Olga Harbor of Kamchatka Peninsula during a scientific expedition, to study grey whales on Wednesday, Aug.25, 2010. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin aims a crossbow as he is on a rubber boat at the Olga Harbor of Kamchatka Peninsula during a scientific expedition, to study grey whales on Wednesday, Aug.25, 2010. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, pool)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sits in the cockpit of an Emergency Ministry Beriev Be-200 amphibian multirole jet flying a water drop over forest fires in Russia's Ryazan region, some 111 miles southeast of Moscow, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Pool)