Vladimir Putin celebrates his 65th birthday

Today Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrates his 65th birthday.

Putin came into big politics in 1999, served as first deputy and acting chairman of the Russian government, and later as prime minister. 

In 2000, he became the second president of Russia after Boris Yeltsin. He held this post for two consecutive terms, and in 2008 newly elected president Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree appointing Putin as prime minister.

Putin became president for the third time in 2012. His current term expires in the spring of 2018.

Today Putin will hold a routine meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council and have a number of telephone conversations, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media.

"Usually Putin celebrates his birthday with relatives and dear ones. Sometimes with his colleagues," he said. "The list of telephone conversations for tomorrow is long. The president will be getting greetings," Peskov said adding that he would brief the media on Putin’s contacts with foreign leaders.

He refused to disclose if a phone call request from US President Donald Trump was on the Kremlin’s list, TASS reports.