Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, left, speaks to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after the State Council meeting in Moscow's Kremlin Monday, Dec. 26, 2011, with a Christmas tree in background. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service, pool)

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/LASKI DIFFUSION Wladimir Putin (prezydent Rosji) z czasow sluzby w KGB. Vladimir Putin (president of Russia ) while working in KGB.

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/LASKI DIFFUSION Wladimir Putin (prezydent Rosji) z czasow pracy w KGB w wydziale politycznym NRD. Vladirmir Putin (president of Russia ) while working in KGB in NRD political department .

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/LASKI DIFFUSION Wladimir Putin (prezydent Rosji) i Anatolij Sobczak. Vladimir Putin (president of Russia ) and Anatolij Sobchak ojciec Kseniya , Xenia , Ksenia Sobchak..

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, and Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, center left, are seen during their meeting in Moscow's Kremlin Friday, Dec. 8, 2006. Putin and his Mongolian counterpart Nambaryn Enkhbayar said Friday that they wanted to boost their countries' trade turnover, which has declined since the 1991 Soviet collapse, and correct the imbalance in trade that gives Moscow a far larger share. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

President Vladimir Putin enters the Alexander Hall for a presentation ceremony of credentials by ambassadors in the Kremlin in Moscow, Friday, Feb. 3, 2006. Vladimir Putin received the credentials of nine new ambassadors to Russia. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

President Vladimir Putin enters the Alexander Hall for a presentation ceremony of credentials by ambassadors in the Kremlin in Moscow, Friday, Feb. 3, 2006. Vladimir Putin received the credentials of nine new ambassadors to Russia. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

Photo: Laski Diffusion / East News Vladimir Putin in KGB uniform, circa 1980.

Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the Georgiyevsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace to attend the first meeting of the Public Chamber, Moscow, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006. Russia's new, hand-picked government advisory board convened for the first time Sunday, with Putin calling on members to help strengthen Russian society. Critics have dismissed the Public Chamber as smoke screen for the Kremlin's increasingly authoritarian trends. (AP Photo/ ITAR-TASS/ Presidential Press Service, Alexei Panov)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin enters a meeting of the Council for the Implementation of National Projects in the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005. Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said social spending projects would receive US$6.3 billion (5.37 billion euro) next year, as the government channels a portion of its massive oil earnings into education, health care, agriculture and housing. (AP Photo/Sergei Chirikov, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin walks in Moscow's Kremlin, during a receiving of credentials ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday emphasized the central role of the United Nations in international affairs and called for stepping up the joint fight against terrorism as he received credentials of new ambassadors to Russia. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel/pool )

President Vladimir Putin speaks at a reception to honor graduates of Russian military academies in the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, June 28, 2005. (AP Photo)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and recipients of state awards pose for a family photo in the Moscow Kremlin, Sunday, June 12, 2005. Shown from left are: poet Bella Akhmadulina, opera singer Anna Netrebko, archeologist Natalia Polosmak, mathematical physicist Ludwig Faddeev, Putin, architect-restorer Ninel Kuzmina, space scientists, Valery Kolinko, Maj. Gen. Alexander Kvasnikov and Arkady Vereshkin, archeologist Vyacheslav Molodin. Putin celebrated a national holiday marking Russia's independence with an elaborate Kremlin awards ceremony Sunday. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS/Presidential Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with recipients of state awards during a ceremony in the Moscow Kremlin, Sunday, June 12, 2005. Shown from right are: Putin, opera singer Anna Netrebko, mathematical physicist Ludwig Faddeev, archeologists Vyacheslav Molodin. Putin celebrated a national holiday marking Russia's independence with an elaborate Kremlin awards ceremony Sunday. (AP Photo/ ITAR-TASS/ Presidential Press Service) (AP Photo/ ITAR-TASS/ Presidential Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in front of honor guards during an awards ceremony in the Moscow Kremlin, Sunday, June 12, 2005. A suspected terrorist bomb blast derailed a train traveling from Chechnya to Moscow on Sunday morning, injuring at least 15 people and marring a national holiday that President Vladimir Putin marked with a Kremlin awards ceremony. (AP Photo/ ITAR-TASS/ Presidential Press Service)

President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with government members in the Kremlin in Moscow, Saturday, March 26, 2005. Kyrgyzstan's ousted President Askar Akayev has taken refuge in Russia, news reports said Saturday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the overthrown Krygyz leader could come to Russia if he wished. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses graduates of military academies during an annual ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, Friday, June 25, 2004. (AP Photo, pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin walks through St.George's Hall to take part in an inauguration ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, Friday, May 7, 2004. Putin starting his second term with a solemn inauguration ceremony in an ornate Kremlin hall Friday, nearly two months after easily winning re-election as leader of what he called a

Russian President Vladimir Putin kisses Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II during Easter service at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Sunday, April 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech at Columbia University in New York, 25 September 2003. Iran's alleged nuclear weapons programme will be on the agenda when US President George W. Bush hosts a summit with Putin beginning 26 September.