Khodorkovsky & Lebedev Communications Center

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has threatened to crack down on pro-democracy demonstrations as he gave fresh hints that he planned to return to the Kremlin as President in 2012.

The Times reports that Putin said that opposition protesters deserved to be beaten by police for holding banned street protests. Russia's authorities routinely refuse permission for liberal critics of the Kremlin to hold demonstrations then brand them illegal to justify police intervention.

The Independent adds that Putin spent the weekend driving across Siberia in a Lada, covering more than 1,200 miles to complete a road trip across Russia's Far Eastern regions. The publication comments that the journey fit into what appears to be a growing PR campaign to boost his image ahead of a potential return to the Kremlin in 2012.

The Times, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters all reported that during his journey, Putin said that the 2012 election for a new six-year term "interests me like...I wanted to say like everyone, but in fact more than everyone else." He added: "The most important thing is that these problems of 2012 don't derail us from the path of stable development."

Told he had already been in power a long time, he said: "I only have two choices: either to watch from the bank how the waters are flowing away and how something collapses or is lost - or to get involved. I prefer to be involved."

Putin also accused the West of tricking Moscow after the Soviet withdrawal from Eastern Europe at the end of the Cold War, and cast doubt on the "reset" in relations with the United States under President Barak Obama. He said that he "really wants to believe" in improved relations with the US, but pointed to what he called a "long-term rearming of Georgia" as a potential flashpoint.

The Moscow Times adds that opposition leader Boris Nemtsov said the interview showed Putin to be "dishonest, ignorant and evil."