Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared his intention to quit the top Kremlin post next year when his second consecutive term expires.
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared his intention to quit the top Kremlin post next year when his second consecutive term expires but refrained from naming his preferred successor saying it was "premature" to write his "political will".
Facing protests from Opposition parties which have accused him of "strangling democracy", the leader, in his eighth annual state-of-the-nation address, launched a scathing attack on "foreign" powers for using "pseudo-democratic" rhetoric to destabilise the country.
Accusing the West of military build up, he warned that Russia could halt compliance to the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) and even quit the key arms control pact signed at the end of cold war by the now-defunct Warsaw Pact and NATO.
"My term will expire in the spring of 2008, and another head of state will make the next state-of-the-nation address," Putin told the country's elite gathered in the Marble Hall of the Kremlin.
"Many expected this address to focus on the results achieved since 2000 and a philosophical analysis of recommendations for the future," Putin said, adding "I think it would be inappropriate for us to assess our own work and premature to declare my political will."
Under the Russian Constitution, one person cannot hold the presidential post for more than two consecutive terms.
Besides the members of both houses of the Federal Assembly, entire cabinet, top judiciary and regional governors were invited to hear the address, Putin's last for this term.
In his 75-minute speech, Putin warned the country, which is moving towards parliamentary elections in December and presidential polls early next year, that the inflow of funds for "interference" in Russia's internal affairs has been growing.
"Let's face it, not everyone is pleased with our country's stable, ongoing development. Some are disingenuously using pseudo-democratic rhetoric and would like to put the
clock back - some, to continue plundering our national wealth as they did in the past... to deprive our country of economic and political independence," Putin said in the televised address.
"There is a growing inflow of funds from abroad that are being use to interfere in our domestic affairs," Putin said comparing it with the colonial times when the west had
declared its "civilisation mission".
"Today it is being done under the slogans of democratisation," he underscored.
With tensions rising over the US' plans to deploy anti-missile defences in Czech Republic and Poland, Moscow's former Warsaw Pact allies, Putin said "I think it is necessary to announce a moratorium on Russia's implementation of the CFE treaty until all NATO countries ratify it."
Putin noted that under its obligations Russia today has no heavy weapons in north western parts of the country where NATO has moved into the former Soviet border.
He also suggested that Russia might consider leaving the CFE treaty if talks with NATO countries show no visible progress in implementation of the treaty.
"I propose discussing this issue in the Russia-NATO Council, and if progress is not reached in negotiations, consider the possibility of terminating our obligations under
the CFE Treaty," Putin told the house amid applause.
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