Russian President Vladimir Putin Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize

The President of Russia Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The 67-year-old was put forward for the prestigious award by a group of Russian writers, led by Sergey Komkov.

Speaking earlier today (Thursday), his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the nomination was not made by the Kremlin (the Russian government).

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According to Tass news agency, he said: "You all know that completely different people are nominated for this award, this is an initiative of those submitting the nomination.

"In this case, [the nomination was submitted by] the aforementioned writer [Komkov].

"If this decision is made [to award Putin the prize], great, if not, it's no problem as well."

Putin was also nominated for the prize in 2013 and joins US President Donald Trump on this year's list of nominees. He was nominated by Christian Tybring-Gjedde - a right wing Norwegian politician - for his work in brokering a deal between Israel and the UAE.

In his nomination letter, Tybring-Gjedde wrote: "As it is expected other Middle Eastern countries will follow in the footsteps of the UAE, this agreement could be a game changer that will turn the Middle East into a region of cooperation and prosperity."

He also cited the President's 'key role in facilitating contact between conflicting parties and... creating new dynamics in other protracted conflicts, such as the Kashmir border dispute between India and Pakistan, and the conflict between North and South Korea, as well as dealing with the nuclear capabilities of North Korea'.

Speaking to Fox News, Tybring-Gjedde said: "For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees."

Tybring-Gjedde also put Trump forward for the prize in 2018, but said he's 'not a big Trump supporter'. However, he does feel the current US President is more deserving of the award than Barack Obama, who won in 2009.

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Tybring-Gjedde said: "The committee should look at the facts and judge him on the facts - not on the way he behaves sometimes.

"The people who have received the Peace Prize in recent years have done much less than Donald Trump. For example, Barack Obama did nothing."

Nominations can be made by an individual or organisation that has previously been awarded the prize, university professors, members of government, members of the International Court of Justice, the Institut de Droit International, or any current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Once a review has been completed, the Nobel Committee will announce this year's Nobel Laureates on 9 October. The chosen Laureates will then receive their prize at a ceremony in Oslo in December.

Topics: World News, vladimir putin, Russia

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey