Intel prediction

Top CIA analyst sees likely Putin re-election bid

Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to run for re-election in 2018 and may impose tougher authoritarian rule to curb unrest over the slumping economy, the CIA’s top Russia analyst said on Tuesday.

The rare public comments by Peter Clement, head of the CIA unit that watches Russia, shed light on how some senior U.S. intelligence officials view Putin and where he is taking his country as he prepares an expected run for a fourth presidential term in 2018.

Most intelligence analysts think Putin will run again, as he indicated three years ago, said Clement.“But he’s got to be thinking now, ‘What happens between now and 2018?’”

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Clement spoke at a George Washington University conference a day after the pro-Putin United Russia party won a lower house majority in parliamentary polls seen as a likely springboard for a Putin re-election bid.