Vladimir Putin has finally solved the intrigue of who will be Russia’s most powerful man should he obey the constitution and stand down as president next year. He will.

The president’s address to Monday’s congress of the dominant United Russia party appeared to be handwritten, in large script in a spiral-bound notebook, and Mr Putin scribbled changes up to the last moment. But his speech, met with jubilation in the sunlit atrium of a conference centre near the Kremlin, carried the clear message that he intends to remain Russia’s key decision maker for years to come.