Putin jokes he will become a farmer and drive combine harvesters if he loses 2018 presidential election
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has joked that he will become a farmer if he does not win the next presidential election.
His comments came after seeing a combine harvester training simulator he was trying out - which he seemed to particularly enjoy.
The Russian leader, who faces the first round of elections on March 18, saw the machinery while visiting a firm called Rostselmash, which makes farm equipment.
The 65-year-old paid particular interest in the new simulator that allows farm workers to learn how to harvest different types of crops.
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: TASS)
(Image: TASS)
In a video taken on the visit, Putin can be seen getting behind the simulator's steering wheel after being instructed how to use it.
A video playing out the windscreen shows corn being cut, while one of the factory's representatives tells the president: "The goal of this training is to harvest all this field and fill the tanker.
"All the situations which may occur when the operator is inside are simulated here."
Photographers crowded around as company bosses showed Putin how to work the controls of the realistic simulator, similar to those used to train pilots.
(Image: TASS)
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Putin joked to staff at the facility in the city of Rostov-on-Don in south-western Russia: "If something [goes wrong], I'll start working as a combine driver after March 18."
However, most political pundits think his chances of an agricultural career are slim, as he is the front-runner in the upcoming presidential election.
His chances are buoyed by his main rival Alexei Navalny being dogged by fraud charges widely believed to be fabricated to hamper Navalny's political ambitions.