Putin Says No Intention of Being President for Life, Talks About his Daughters

The Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview Sunday that he had no intentions of holding the presidency for life and intended to step down latest by 2024. Also, for the first time he talked of his two daughters, whom he said he had barely any time to meet in his packed schedule.

He said that staying beyond that time would be "detrimental for the country and I don't need this," reports the Tass news agency.

Putin took over the country in 2000 and is now 62. Seeing his dedication to keeping fit and fine, another 10 years are not going to age the steel man.

He said circumstances and his mood will determine whether he stands for presidency in 2018.

He reiterated in the interview that the West was trying to misinterpret his rule in Russia and he was not interested in bringing back the "iron curtain" days or the cold war.

He saw the West's sanctions on Russians for the country's role in Ukraine as "driven by a desire to cause a split in the elite and then, perhaps, in society."

He said he accepted criticism and even opposition as long as it was constructive, anything else he believed was like germs eating away at the insides of a country.

"They sit inside you, these bacilli, these bacteria, they are there all of the time," Putin said. "But when an organism is strong, you can always keep back the flu because of your immune system."

Asked if his daughters  Maria, 29, nicknamed Masha, and Yekaterina, 28, known as Katya lived abroad, he was quick to deny any such things and said they were very much in Moscow and he made a point of meeting them once a month at least.

"I have a packed work schedule. Even my daughters I only see once or twice a month, and then I need to pick my moment," Putin said in the interview, according to NDTV..