Kremlin, asked about Putin's ambitions, says presidential election campaign not yet underway

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin, asked about President Vladimir Putin's political ambitions, said on Tuesday that the campaign for next year's presidential election in Russia had not yet begun and that there could be a varying number of candidates in the contest.

Putin, in power as either president or prime minister since 1999, is widely expected to seek and win another six-year term next year at a time when his country is locked in what he has cast as an existential struggle with the West over Ukraine and the future world order.

When asked when the 71-year-old Russian leader would officially announce his candidacy for next year's presidential race, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

"There is no first candidate yet, there will be a first candidate after they are registered. There may be a varying number of candidates.

"Our constitution stipulates who can stand for the post of president. Many people fulfil these criteria. No election campaign has yet been announced."

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)