MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he will not run for the Russian presidency in 2008. At a Kremlin meeting with the Russian president, foreign political scientists and analysts asked Putin if he could give a definite answer as to whether or not he would run for the presidency in 2008 or amend the constitution.

Putin replied: "I will not run for the presidency in 2008. I think stability is the most important thing for the country. And the constitution is a guarantor of stability. So I am not going to amend it."

Putin said it was natural for people in power to seek to retain it. He cited Germany as an example. "There is the leading candidate, and the one who is behind so far. But he is continuing to struggle, and he is right to do," Putin said.