The talk that President Vladimir Putin will run for the third term should not be taken seriously, says chairman of the Central Elections Commission Vladimir Churov who came into office last week.

“I believe the third term is impossible for him. It is a great burden, a great job that he has been doing for eight years. It makes one think of some change of occupation. At least I am used to believing what Vladimir Putin says. And as all these years he has clearly adhered to one position, there are no reasons to doubt it,” the Interfax news agency quoted the official as saying in an interview with the Kommersant daily published on Monday.

Putin “has not deceived anyone, therefore I don’t think one should be talking of a third term. Only if it is a thought expressed aloud,” Churov said.

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