Putin seeks another presidential term in 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he would run for president again in the 2024 presidential election, a move that could keep him in power until 2030.

After awarding soldiers who had fought in the special military operation in Ukraine with Russia's highest military honor, the hero of Russia gold star, Putin was asked by a lieutenant colonel if he would run again, Russian news agencies said.

The Kremlin chief said he would, Tass reported, as about 80 percent of Russians approve of his performance, according to the independent pollster Levada Center.

It came after Putin said on Thursday that Russia supports the establishment of a new "truly democratic" model of global economic development.

"The entire global system of economic relations is undergoing fundamental ... irreversible changes. This is because the previous model of globalization is being replaced by a multipolar model," Putin said at the plenary session of the 14th VTB Russia Calling! Investment Forum.

"We want to create a new model, a truly democratic one, where fair competition between all economic actors prevails," he said, adding that such a change in the global economic landscape and the emergence of new powers would be a "natural" and "objective" process.

He said the West's curbs will only help his country become a new growth center as the world is entering a period of radical change.

Russia's export-focused economy has proved to be more resilient than its adversaries anticipated when the West sought to isolate it with sweeping sanctions after it launched the special military operation in Ukraine in early 2022.

"Russia's GDP grew by 3.2 percent this year over the course of 10 months," said Putin, adding that it is at a higher level than before the imposition of large-scale Western sanctions.

He said GDP growth rate is expected to reach 3.5 percent by the end of the year. "We have proved that we are capable of tackling some of the most complex challenges."

Putin said the West has essentially destroyed the principles of market economy, and the financial infrastructure dominated by the dollar and the euro has been discredited.

"It has been resting on its laurels for so long, becoming accustomed to monopolies and exclusivity, to the lack of real alternatives, to the habit of changing nothing, that it is becoming archaic," he said.

Neighbor oriented

Meanwhile, Putin hosted Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday as part of a Middle East diplomacy tour that also included visits to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Raisi expressed satisfaction with the growing bilateral relations, saying cooperation with Russia was important in line with Iran's neighbor-oriented policy.

Putin said relations between Russia and Iran were "at the best possible level".

Iran and Russia, both being sanctioned by the United States, have recently expanded bilateral political and economic relations to counter US moves.

On Tuesday, the two countries signed a joint declaration of cooperation to counter the sanctions and reduce the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures, according to Iran's official news agency IRNA.

Putin pointed to the two countries' common position on regional issues, emphasizing that exchanging views on the Palestine issue and the Gaza Strip was also among the topics of negotiations between Russia and Iran.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.