(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-14 21:14

MOSCOW -- The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, said on Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin might become upper house speaker after he steps down as president next year.

"The position of Federation Council speaker will be a good position for the incumbent president after March 2008," the time slated for presidential elections, the Interfax news agency quoted Mironov as saying in the eastern Siberian city of Irkutsk.

Such a post will allow Putin "to supervise the State Duma, the government, and the country's foreign policy," he said.

Putin has expressed readiness to step down after two consecutive terms ending next year, but vowed to continue to serve the country after that.

He is constitutionally barred from running for a third term in a row as president, but it is still unclear what posts Putin will take after he steps down.