Publication time: 20 February 2012, 23:29 

A rather large correspondence from Moscow of the British journalist Catherine Belton, devoted to Putin's problem, has been posted in theFinancial Times.

The article is titled "Putin stands at political crossroads". The article stated that last week Russian state television has generously covered every step of the tour of Putin in the Urals.

News programmes lavished attention on Putin's inspection of high-tech children's cancer units and invitations for children to Kremlin parties honing his image as "father of the nation". But "behind the state propaganda machine hides the disarray of the Kremlin".

Protest mood among Russia's middle class grows, and "how Putin responds to them will determine which direction he steers the country".

"He understands that what he did before isn't going to work. But he doesn't know what is going to work. A battle is breaking out for the future direction of his presidency," said Sergei Markov, a former United Russia deputy now working as one of Putin's election representatives.

Liberal-minded elements of the Russian elite are seeking to persuade Putin to loosen the reins so he can survive in power and lead a gradual evolution of the regime.

"Alexei Kudrin, a former finance minister and close friend of the premier, has led calls for parliamentary elections in 18 months - a nod to opposition demands after December's alleged vote-rigging".

"The Kremlin has publicly rejected this so far, but, as noted by the head of the Putin's government-connected Centre for Strategic Research, Mikhail Dmitriev, this would be one of the easiest ways to compromise".

But Putin will have to weigh the risks. A parliament no longer dominated by United Russia could launch an inquiry, for instance, into Putin's friends who have become billionaires under his rule.

As for the protesters, ongoing since December after the elections to the Duma, Putin would like to take them under his wing.

"He considers that though these people are in opposition, they are citizens of Russia, and that his policies should not be exclusive but inclusive. He wants to help these people become politically defined," Mr Markov said.

Such magnanimity of prime minister Putin, however, does not extend to the protest organizers: He believes "they are traitors carrying out the orders of western powers and he will act against them harshly".

With the recent counter-attacks against the media, the regime is demonstrating it can hit back. It is demonstrating it is not capitulating. This, in turn, could only galvanize the opposition.

One should not expect change in the style of Putin's rule, noting that "mindset framed during the Cold War and Boris Yeltsin's chaotic 1990s presidency".

And because of the lack of flexibility, ever more openly, members of Russia's business and intellectual elite forecast "Putin may not even complete the first of what could theoretically be two further presidential terms".

The newspaper wrote:

"The public attitude [is] shifting independently of what Putin does and says," said Dmitriev. "The system he epitomizes personally ... has been outgrown by Russian society".

"Putin will disappear," says Sergey Aleksashenko, a former deputy central banker.

"The water is already moving under the ice and there is no way of stopping it. We can only discuss how long this might take".