The Russian lawmakers on Friday voted to set March 18 as the date of next year's presidential election.
The Russian Federation Council or upper house of parliament unanimously passed a resolution, setting March 18 as the date for the 2018 presidential election.
A total of 23 people have announced their wish to run for president in the 2018 election, the Russian news agency TASS quoted the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, as saying.
The resolution will be published within the next five days.
It is only after its publication that the electoral campaign will be launched officially.
Putin, who declared his intention to run for another six-year term last week, has stated that he will run in the next year's presidential election as an independent candidate while hoping for support from the political 'forces sharing his views on the country's development.'
Putin won the 2012 presidential election as a candidate from the United Russia party.
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