Russian President Vladimir Putin says he could run for a fourth presidential term in 2018. If he serves four terms, that would keep him in power for about a quarter century and make him the nation's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin. 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Novgorod Region, on the banks of Lake Valdai, Russia, Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks during the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Novgorod Region, on the banks of Lake Valdai, Russia, Thursday, Sept.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Novgorod Region, on the banks of Lake Valdai, Russia, Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Putin, who served two consecutive four-year terms starting in 2000, became prime minister in 2008 to observe a constitutional limit of two consecutive terms. 
 
 Putin continued calling the shots as premier with his longtime ally, Dmitry Medvedev, serving as a placeholder. Medvedev initiated a law that extended the presidential term to six years, and Putin won a third term in 2012 despite major public protests in Moscow against his rule. 
 
 Asked Thursday whether he would seek another term in 2018, Putin said that he doesn't exclude that. 

 VALDAI, Novgorod Region, September 19 (RIA Novosti) – In a playful exchange with France’s former prime minister, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday it was possible he would seek a fourth presidential term. 
 
 The exchange took place at the 10th annual meeting of the Valdai Club, a four-day, Kremlin-backed discussion forum bringing together several hundred Russian and foreign officials, scholars and other public figures in northwestern Russia. 
 
 During a question-and-answer session following Putin’s speech on Russia’s national identity, he asked former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon whether the latter planned to run for his country’s presidency; Fillon said he would reply only if Putin answered the same question – to which Putin said, “I don’t exclude [the possibility].” 
 
 “And I, too, don’t exclude [the possibility],” quipped Fillon, according to the Russian translation. 
 
 Putin was Russia's president from New Year's Eve of 1999 until spring 2008, and then served one four-year term as prime minister. He returned to the Kremlin for a third term last year.
– Eleven more years of drunken arm wrestling, whale shooting, and crazy fish stories? Maybe. Vladimir Putin says he just might run for president of Russia again when this, his third term, is up in 2018. Putin made the comment during what RIA Novosti calls a "playful exchange" with a former French prime minister at a recent forum: Putin asked Francois Fillon whether he would run for president in France; Fillon refused to answer unless Putin answered first; Putin responded with "I don't exclude [the possibility]." The AP notes that if he does indeed serve four terms, Putin—who has also served as prime minister, don't forget—will have been Russia's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin.