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Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Thursday his intention to exercise significant power as premier when he leaves the Kremlin after next month’s presidential election.
Putin attacked Western support for independence in Kosovo during a news conference and sparked Nato’s anger by threatening to target missiles at former Soviet bloc countries that host bases from the military alliance or a US missile defence shield.
Speaking just two weeks before a March 2 presidential election almost certain to be won by his chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev, Putin confirmed he was “ready to work as prime minister”.
Putin's four-hour performance at the Kremlin mixed flirtatious banter with metaphors about snot and showed a gift for sarcastic brush-offs worthy of a stand-up comedian.
Putin twice referred to a runny nose during the annual presidential news conference - to dismiss rumours about his personal wealth and to discuss the pressures of public office.
Newspaper reports about his alleged fortune were just rubbish, said Putin, "excavated from someone's nose and then spread on those bits of paper".
Explaining how he worked his guts out "like a galley slave" for eight years in the Kremlin, Putin said leaders must take firm decisions and not wobble in the face of adversity.
"Heads of state have no right to whinge, or drool for any reason. If they are going to slobber and blow snot and say things are bad, bad, then that's how it will be," Putin said.
The Russian was also sympathetic towards US President George W. Bush. "Sometimes you have to make decisions that nobody else can make. Do you think Bush has it easy?" he said.
Packed
Many Russian journalists held up signs to attract Putin's attention in the Round Hall of the Kremlin packed with hundreds of domestic and international reporters.
When one young woman said she had a golden heart to present to him on Valentine's Day, Putin invited her to step down from her seat and pass it on to his officials.
Putin seemed to be thinking about European bodies, and not of the institutional kind, when another asked about a news article alleging Russia's gas giant Gazprom was eating into Europe's body.
"Why are the Americans so worried about a European body? Maybe because they want to tear themselves away from it, nice body that it is," he said, laughing and making generous hand gestures to illustrate his point.
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