Vladimir Putin has said he could stay on as President of Russia for at least another six years.

His term in office ends with the presidential election in March 2018 but he is widely expected to seek re-election and win another six-year term.

Mr Putin has been President of Russia since 2000, apart from a stint as Prime Minister between 2008 and 2012.

He was speaking during a three-hour question and answer session with Russian children at a school in the Black Sea city of Sochi, in which he answered a series of light-hearted questions.

Responding to a question about his plans for when he leaves office, he smiled and said: “But I haven’t decided yet if I will leave the presidency.”

The comment was met with laughter and applause from the audience of young Russians.

However, he pledged not to change the Russian constitution to allow him to stay as President indefinitely.

Vladimir Putin and the people Show all 11 1 /11 Vladimir Putin and the people Vladimir Putin and the people Vladimir Putin and the people Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a press conference GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people Vladimir Putin playing the piano during a charity concert EPA Vladimir Putin and the people Putin enjoying a fishing trip REUTERS Vladimir Putin and the people Putin showing off his judo skills at a Russian sports centre AP Vladimir Putin and the people Putin fixing a satellite transmitter onto a tiger GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people Queen Elizabeth II and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive at Horse Guards Parade PA Vladimir Putin and the people President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin wear Chilean ponchos AP Vladimir Putin and the people Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin talk while skiing in Krasnaya Polyana near the Black Sea resort GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people Putin swims the butterfly during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people Putin helping to pilot an aircraft EPA

“I had an opportunity, I was even asked to change the constitution at one time,” he said. “I did not do it, and I don’t intend to do it in the future.”

The current rules allow a President to serve for no more than two terms in a row. Mr Putin’s spell as Prime Minister means he is currently nearing the end of the first term of his second spell as President and is therefore entitled to stand for re-election for one more term.

During the question and answer session, he faced a series of wide-ranging but uncontroversial questions from the schoolchildren.

“I like chatting with my friends, reading historical books, listening to music and doing sport,” he replied when asked what he enjoyed doing in his spare time.

He said he rarely uses the internet but drew a comparison between people who use fake identities online and the personas he adopted when he worked for the KGB intelligence agency.

Asked for his thoughts on feminism, Mr Putin said he saw nothing wrong with the feminist movement and recognised the existence of a gender pay gap in Russia. However, he said a similar problem exists in the West and that sexism is not as bad in Russia as in many Muslim countries.

Bizarre moments during the session included Mr Putin and a young boy comparing how many pull-ups they could do, a synchronised skating team asking if they could have their picture taken with him, and the Russian President admitting he had fallen asleep while watching director Oliver Stone’s four-hour documentary about himself.