President Dmitry Medvedev's aide Arkady Dvorkovich said he does not plan to stay in the Kremlin after the 2012 presidential election and hopes to join the Cabinet, which Medvedev has promised to reshuffle.
Dvorkovich, who works as Medvedev's top economic adviser, was asked by U.S. talk show host Larry King during an interview last week whether he would like to keep his job after the election, which is expected to return Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin.
"No, I don't think so," Dvorkovich replied, according to an audio recording released by Ekho Moskvy radio on Saturday.
"I hope that President Medvedev, if after elections he will move to the position of prime minister, he will, I hope, propose me to work with him in the government," Dvorkovich said, speaking in English.
He said he would "likely" accept such an offer, although he did not elaborate which post it might be.
Putin and Medvedev announced at a United Russia convention last month that they planned to swap jobs after the 2012 election. Two days after the announcement, Medvedev forced the resignation of Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who had sharp differences with him over defense and social spending and had said publicly that he would not work in a Cabinet led by Medvedev.
Putin said Thursday that he had agreed with Medvedev that Kudrin, who had served as finance minister since 2000, would remain "part of our team."
Medvedev has not given any hint about where he might move Dvorkovich, who is a former economic development and trade minister and former adviser to Putin.
King met with Dvorkovich in Moscow, and the 40-minute interview also included billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who supervises the Skolkovo innovation hub, and Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov. King, a longtime CNN host, has not said when the interviews might be broadcast.
In the interview, Dvorkovich confirmed that he had not known before the United Russia convention about Medvedev's intention to step aside. But he said he did not consider it "insulting."
Dvorkovich predicted that Medvedev would continue his reforms "probably for the next 15 years, and maybe more."
Dvorkovich did not elaborate, but the remark spurred Venediktov to comment that Dvorkovich has "just told us that Dmitry Anatolyevich will run for the presidency in 2018 or 2024."
Medvedev, 46, has not commented on whether he plans to return to the Kremlin. Under the Constitution, Putin, who served two terms as president in 2000-08, is eligible to serve two additional terms, now at six years each under a reform carried out by Medvedev.
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