A professor, known for his proximity to Kremlin circles, claimed on Thursday in an interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin could step down in 2017, a year ahead of the end of his current six-year term.

Valery Solovei, a professor at Russia’s prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations, had his interview published in the Moscow-based newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets.

The Washington Post said readers will be “out of luck” if they wanted to read Solovei’s interview on Moskovskij Komsomolets, but some Internet archives and tweets are still available.

“The article has been removed, though the tweet that announced it still remains,” the US daily said.

Solovei, whose Kremlin’s connections had enabled him to correctly speculate some recent government appointments, said Putin will have “some problems,” which will force him out of the public eye for a few months.

In the interview, Solovei rejects giving further details over Putin leaving office especially when asked about the current leader’s health.

In order to find a quick replacement for Putin, who assumed office since 2000, Solovei said the Kremlin will call for early elections, but speculates that former president Dmitry Medvedev will replace him:

“Deja vu,” Solovei added.

Putin’s aide on Trump, NATO

In a related story, Putin’s spokesman says one way Donald Trump could help build confidence with Russia after he becomes president would be to persuade NATO to slow down its expansion or withdraw its forces from Russia’s borders.

Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with The Associated Press that this “would lead to a kind of detente in Europe.”

But unfortunately, he said, Russia now sees “NATO’s muscles ... getting bigger and bigger and closer and closer to Russian borders.”

At a NATO summit in July, the Western alliance said it is building up positions in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in response to what it sees as escalating tensions with Russia. The United States is sending 1,000 troops to Poland next year.

Trump has praised Putin as a strong leader and suggested that the U.S. could abandon its NATO commitments, which include mutual defense in case of attack.

The president-elect says NATO was created to confront a threat - the Soviet Union - that no longer exists and has called the alliance “obsolete” and a bad deal for America. He argues that the US gets too little out of decades-old security partnerships like NATO, which is anchored in Europe but traditionally led by the United States.

Peskov, who is considered one of Putin’s closest aides, called NATO “an instrument of confrontation.”

(With AP)

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 13:59 - GMT 10:59