No, he won't change the constitution to be able to become Russian president for a third time in a row, Putin has repeatedly insisted. The West, however, has long doubted that the most popular leader Russia has seen since the fall of communism is ready to entirely give up his grip on power. On Monday Putin surprised the world when he announced that he would be ready to become Russian prime minister.

For this December's parliamentary elections, Putin accepted a nomination to lead the list of the popular pro-Kremlin party United Russia.

"Heading the government is realistic, but it is too early to consider it," Putin said at the party congress, a rather timid statement given that United Russia is already leading the polls, and with Putin at its head is poised to win an overwhelming majority in the December elections -- experts expect anywhere between 70 percent and 95 percent.

That would pave the way for Putin to become prime minister, a post that is politically dwarfed by that of the president, which dominates Russian politics. Yet this fact shouldn't bother Putin much: The move may be only one part of a greater master plan that would enable him to become president for a third time after a short period as prime minister, said Hans-Henning Schroeder, a Russia expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, a Berlin-based think tank.

The plan goes as follows: If United Russia wins this winter's elections (which is virtually guaranteed), the constitution allows Putin to become prime minister only if he prematurely resigns from his post as president -- a term that would not end until next spring.

The current prime minister in office, Viktor Zubkov, would then succeed Putin and become Russian president for the remaining months -- and beyond that, if the strategy Schroeder foresees really comes true. Putin, the expert said, may willingly designate Zubkov as his successor as president.

"Zubkov is rather old, and as a close ally of Putin and a man with little political ambitions a perfect intermediate candidate," Schroeder said of the 66-year-old prime minister in a telephone interview with United Press International. "He could even claim that he only wants to be president for two years, and then new elections would be possible."

The key fact: In those elections, Putin could run for president again, firstly because he didn't complete his second term, and secondly because the constitution only forbids three consecutive terms, and not a third one after a pause.

There is another interesting fact: Putin only last month made Zubkov prime minister, in a late political shuffle many observers saw as a strategic placement of future candidates for president. Now, the placement makes even more sense.

This would also follow a precedent established by President Boris Yeltsin, who appointed a certain Putin as prime minister in August 1999 to then resign on the last day of 1999, appointing Putin in his stead.

The strategy, if indeed true, however, is not without risk. Zubkov of course needs to become officially elected after his interim presidential term to pave the way for a third term for Putin. There are other presidential hopefuls, including first deputy prime ministers Dmitry Medvedev and Sergei Ivanov.

Stepping down early would then help Putin, because three months as interim president would undoubtedly strengthen Zubkov in the following presidential race.

Of course there are other possibilities for Putin to retain some power, for example by feeding a weak president to then control politics behind the scenes as prime minister or by altering the constitution and shifting powers from the presidential office to that of the prime minister. A third, politically less controversial effect of his move may simply be the plan to strengthen United Russia in Parliament.

But Schroeder said he wouldn't be surprised if Putin in 2010 or 2011 makes a comeback as Russian president.

"I am sure they have a greater master plan, and it would make sense if the prime minister move is part of it," he told UPI.

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