Dmitry Medvedev urges United Russia to ensure Vladimir Putin wins

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that the United Russia party's main task is to make Vladimir Putin a "worthy" winner of the 2012 presidential polls.

He was speaking at a meeting with the members of the ruling United Russia party Saturday.

“Our task is to do our best to make Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin win the elections worthy so that he can confirm the credibility that he has had for a long time,” Medvedev told the party's members without elaborating what exactly must be done to make Putin the winner of the presidential race.

The president said he was sure that “it will be this way”.

On Thursday, during his annual Q&A televised session, Putin, who heads the United Russia party without being its member, said that he considered himself the main contender in the presidential elections.

Answering a journalist's question about who the main candidate for the presidential elections was, Putin said: “I think I am,” adding that he “should be clear and understandable for people and avoid mistakes”.

Among other candidates who will challenge Putin in the polls are the leader of A Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov, the head of the nationalist LDPR party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, a liberal Yabloko party’s head, Grigory Yavlinsky and two independent candidates, including old-time Putin’s ally, Irkutsk governor Dmitry Mezentsev and a billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.